Liz Zetlin, video still of Spring, Cecropia Moth on Alternate Leaf Dogwood/Moozominzh from More Than Human – a year in my garden, 2026.

Liz Zetlin: More Than Human – a year in my garden

April 25, 2026 – June 27, 2026
Opening Reception: April 25, 1 – 3pm
Artist Talk: May 9, 11am – 12pm

Liz Zetlin’s More Than Human unfolds as an immersive four-channel video installation, filmed over the course of a year in her local garden. Each projection corresponds to a season, unfolding chronologically as shifting light and colour trace the passage of time, from frost giving way to thaw, to blossoms opening into dense summer abundance, and autumn’s gradual return to stillness. Within these projections, the garden becomes a dynamic, entangled ecosystem—native and non-native species interwoven in dense, living textures, animals and insects flickering through the frame, and a layered soundscape blending composed rhythms with ambient local sounds.

The exhibition is grounded in the concept of the “more-than-human,” a term articulated by philosopher David Abram to describe the vast, animate world that exceeds human perception yet sustains it. Rather than positioning humans as separate from or dominant over nature, Abram emphasizes our embeddedness within a living, interdependent field of plants, animals, and ecological forces. In Zetlin’s work, this perspective is made palpable: plants communicate through electrical impulses translated into sound, pollinators move with agency and purpose, and the garden itself emerges as a network of relations rather than a passive backdrop. The scale of the projections further destabilizes human-centered perception, rendering a moth monumental and a leaf expansive, and asking viewers to encounter them not as minor details but as vital presences within a shared world.

Emergence 2026

April 18, 2026 – June 20, 2026
Opening Reception: April 25, 1 – 3pm

Emergence 2026 showcases the creativity and perspectives of high school students from across the region, highlighting the new ideas, voices, and visions taking shape in our community. As a biennial exhibition, it celebrates the ongoing growth of young artists as they experiment, take risks, and step into their developing artistic identities.

Forecast – January to June

January 24, 2026 – June 20, 2026

During the final spring of his career, Tom Thomson created a remarkable series of sketches in Algonquin Park that served as a visual diary of the season unfolding. His friend and fellow artist, Mark Robinson, recalled that Thomson referred to these works as his “records,” documenting the daily shifts in weather and landscape—from fog drifting across the lake at dawn, to the sudden shimmer of sunlight on birch bark, or the slow deepening of twilight over pine-covered ridges. This attentiveness exemplified his approach to the early twentieth-century landscape: not as static scenery, but as a living system in flux, with plein-air sketches recording changes in light, temperature, and atmosphere.

Building from Thomson’s devotion to observing these elements, Forecast extends this focus into the present through the concept of bioclimatic attunement—our bodily and emotional responsiveness to the atmosphere and the subtle ways we sense and adapt to weather. In addition to Thomson’s work, a salon-style hanging of selections from the Gallery’s collection traces the progression of the seasons in step with the exhibition running dates. Visitors are invited to tune their perceptions to the rhythms of changing skies and light. Situating us within the present, we are also compelled to consider how our awareness of familiar weather patterns—and their disruption—has evolved in a changing climate.

For more information about our current exhibitions, please visit our website.

About Tom Thomson Art Gallery

The Tom Thomson Art Gallery develops exhibitions and programs that enrich the region and contribute to national visual arts discourse. We promote and support emerging and professional artists, advocate for the creative sector, and actively research, preserve, develop, and exhibit the collection to promote scholarship and to generate and explore new ideas. We are committed to welcoming and inspiring people of all representations, ages, backgrounds, and abilities.

Tom Thomson Art Gallery
840 1st Avenue West
Owen Sound, ON N4K 4K4
www.tomthomson.org
ttag@tomthomson.org
519-376-1932

Facebook @tomthomsonartgallery
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Gallery Hours:
Tuesday to Saturday: 10:00am – 5:00pm
Sunday to Monday: Closed

Accessibility:
Tom Thomson Art Gallery is fully accessible. For more information, please visit our website.

The Tom Thomson Art Gallery operates with generous support from the City of Owen Sound, Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council.