A seed begins in darkness—buried, fragmented, waiting. In its stillness, it holds the potential for transformation, a quiet alchemy that unfolds when the time is right. Alchemy of a Seed explores this process of change, resilience, and emergence through biomorphic sculptures that blur the boundaries between organic and synthetic, natural and surreal.
Created from discarded memory foam, found materials, and textiles, Catherine Spencer’s sculptures take shape as she cuts, stitches, airbrushes, embroiders, and applies beadwork, to breathe life into her anthropomorphic creations. The sculptures embody both rupture and repair, echoing the physical and emotional labor of growth. Vibrant, plant-like organisms populate the exhibition, their textures and colors evoking the tension between attraction and defense, fragility and power.
Like seeds rising from the soil, these forms emerge from obscurity into color, embracing the light only when they are ready. Alchemy of a Seed is a meditation on transformation—not just as a cycle of life and death, but as an act of agency, play, and rebirth. The viewer is invited to consider what is planted in the unseen spaces of our lives and what it means to step fully into becoming.
Catherine Spencer, Sonoluminescence, 2024, Mixed media soft sculpture, Courtesy of the artist
Catherine Spencer, Universal Seed, 2024, Mixed media soft sculpture, Courtesy of the artist
Catherine Spencer: Alchemy of a Seed is part of the Everson CNY Artist Initiative, an exhibition program that celebrates the multi-faceted talents of regional artists. The CNY Artist Initiative is made possible with support from Terry and Bill Delavan.
The Everson is supported by the Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation; the General Operating Support program, a regrant program of the County of Onondaga with the support of County Executive, J. Ryan McMahon II, and the Onondaga County Legislature, administered by CNY Arts; and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
