A new art exhibition at the MU, “Encounters,” by Natalie Deam and Caylin Jayde, reflects interactions between people, plants and everything in between that make the Midwest environment what it is.

Both Deam and Jayde are local to the Ames community, with Deam recently becoming a professor at Iowa State. 

Carter Nelson, a senior in graphic design, supervises the gallery.

“They’ve collaborated in the past,” Nelson said. “It is a very big undertaking to have a solo exhibition. It takes a lot of work and investment. If you have a job besides selling art, which they both do, it’s a really hard task.”

Both artists have distinct styles, with Deam focusing heavily on wood burning and drawing.

“[Jayde], on the other hand, does a lot more painting,” Nelson said.

Despite their unique approaches, Deam and Jayde found a middle ground that made this exhibit beautifully intertwined.

“They both had a similar goal going into this exhibition, so it had the continuity you would need to collaborate,” Nelson said.

The art went far past the visual beauty of landscapes, but it touched on some of the relationships in nature that inhibit or encourage growth within an ecosystem.

“The clear motif from just looking at them at face value is the circle of life,” Nelson said.

Humans are connected with the nature that surrounds them, and their impacts are everlasting. “Encounters” demonstrates this relationship by including real-time issues that ecosystems across the world are battling. 

“[Jayde] used plastic bags in her work,” Nelson said. “She’d adhere them to some of her drawings to make a commentary on pollution and how animals are learning to live with that.” 

Through artwork like “Encounters,” humans are able to gain awareness and see firsthand the impact they leave on their environment. 

The exhibit is free admission; more information can be found here.