Opening Reception: Saturday, October 4, 6 – 8 pm

Octavia Art Gallery is pleased to present Anatomy of the Ephemeral, a two-person exhibition featuring the work of Carmen Almon and Emily Farish. Through sculpture and drawing, both artists explore the delicate and transient nature of botanical life—its vulnerability, impermanence, and quiet resilience.

Inspired by 17th and 18th century botanical illustrations, Carmen Almon creates intricate sculptural interpretations of plants, flowers, and branches. Working entirely by hand with copper, brass, and enamel paint, she captures not exact replicas of nature, but her own memory and emotional impression of a specific moment in time. Her botanical forms are strange systems rising from the Earth toward the Sun, striving to connect with the senses of insects, animals, and us, for the survival of their future generations. Each sculpture takes months to complete, resulting in rare and deeply personal works.

Emily Farish’s work explores the connection between organic forms and human intervention through her charcoal drawings of flowers. She meticulously renders each flower’s nuanced imperfections - rumpled petals, wilting stems, insect nibbles, and the tape and staples that secure them to her studio wall. Farish’s studio is nestled in the heart of New York City’s 28th Street Flower District. The convergence of the street’s daily influx of fresh blooms and enduring urban grit is reflected in the pieces in this exhibition.

Almon grew up in Barcelona and Washington, D.C., and currently resides in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Her work has been exhibited at the Chinese Porcelain Gallery (NY), Octavia Art Gallery (TX and LA), and at international art fairs. She has been featured in Frederic Magazine, Architectural Digest, The New York Times, and Martha Stewart Living, and her sculptures are held in both private and public collections across the U.S. and Europe.

Farish, originally from Alabama, is now based in New York City. She holds a BFA from Auburn University and pursued postgraduate study at the New York Studio School. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States, and has been recently featured in Atlanta Homes Magazine, Luxe Magazine SF, and Studio Arts Magazine.

Together, Almon and Farish offer a poignant meditation on nature’s fragility and endurance—an anatomy of the ephemeral moments that surround us.