The Blue in Our Veins

July 2 through September 6, 2025

9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (last entrance at 3:00 p.m.)

The Kampong

Nestled in The Kampong — a historic garden cultivated by generations of plant explorers, The Blue in Our Veins is a poetic exploration on water, atmosphere, and our evolving relationships with the natural world.

The artists invite us through a journey between past and present guided by the hues of sky and sea. Like water coursing through the veins of plants and people, these tones serve as a connective thread – linking artworks, materials, and ideas. The exhibition invites contemplation and deep attention to the natural world.

Traditional and elemental substances such as rainwater, lapis lazuli, and indigo anchor the works. The alchemy of indigo, shifting from green to blue through fermentation and air, mirrors the subtle rhythms of the environment. Historic instruments are revisited through an artistic lens. Alexander von Humboldt’s cyanometer is revived to trace the shifting tones of Biscayne Bay. Cyanotypes, used initially by Anna Atkins to catalog sea algae, are reinterpreted here with impressions of The Kampong’s tropical flora, becoming poetic maps of memory and place.

The exhibition invites us to slow down and marvel through reflections on the currents that connect us. The Blue in Our Veins offers a quiet space for reflection — a moment to witness the interplay between pigment, history, and the living world.

Join us for the opening reception on Thursday, July 17 from 6:00-8:00pm!

Gracia Echenique, a Chilean visual artist based in Miami, centers her practice on the exploration of layered paint surfaces that, when peeled away, reveal new textures and tones as metaphors for memory. Inspired by the blues of the sea, she conducts cyanometric studies to capture its constant transformation and rich chromatic variations. Her work incorporates principles of kintsugi and the wabi-sabi philosophy, embracing imperfections and scars as symbols of beauty and the passage of time. Through this fusion of techniques and concepts, Echenique creates pieces that invite reflection on transformation, fragility, and the beauty of the ephemeral.

Isabel Infante is a textile artist who explores the intersections of craft, nature, and heritage. Her practice honors traditional techniques and materials through hand weaving and natural dyes while reimagining them with a contemporary perspective. She finds inspiration in the interplay between the structured grid of the loom and the organic qualities of natural materials. This dynamic tension between precision and spontaneity lies at the heart of her creative process, resulting in textiles that reinterpret heritage through a modern lens.

Miami-born artist Megan James creates ethereal paintings that capture the raw poetry of natural elements – from the rhythmic patterns of water to the sublime textures of the desert. Her work, which incorporates raw pigments, materials and rainwater gathered from specific locations, serves as a bridge between refined interior spaces and wild beauty. Through layered compositions that evolve with natural light, James invites viewers into a sensory dialogue with place, offering moments of contemplation within contemporary environments.

Veronica Buitron is an Ecuadorian designer and educator based in Miami, specialising in natural dyes and sustainable textiles. Her work delves into various traditional dyeing techniques, transforming cloth into unique pieces that reflect both the dyer’s hand and the external conditions—such as season, temperature, time, and water pH—under which the textiles are created. In her practice, Veronica embraces the ritualistic process of dyeing, intertwining the scientific and historical dimensions of textile culture that honor the land and the knowledge of artisan communities.