SURROUNDS

the 2026 Linda Lee Alter Fellowship Exhibition

a solo exhibition by theo loftis

Exhibition Runs September 1st - 20th
Opening Reception Saturday, September 5th from 5 - 7 PM
DumoLab: Biomaterials Discovery Workshop Friday, September 11th from 5 - 7 PM
Duos: Instrumental Music in Pairs Saturday, September 12th at 7:30 PM
Closing Reception & Artist Talk Sunday, September 20th from 12 - 2 PM

About the exhibition:

“I want to hold space for viewers to engage with essences, residue, and improvisation – qualities that mirror trans embodiment and queer ecology.”

Discarded materials, plants, scents, liquids, and shifting light carry histories of adaptation, reciprocity, and survival within them. SURROUNDS, a new exhibition by Da Vinci Art Alliance’s September Linda Lee Alter fellow Theo Loftis, ushers viewers into an immersive unfolding of queerness, plant life, and porous identity. 

Loftis's exhibition asks us to consider who, or what, is deemed worthy of our attention by transforming and reframing discarded botanical materials into sensory encounters. The work welcomes change and defies classification, permitting organic matter to dry, ferment, decay, and evolve throughout the exhibition. Muses emerge from liquids or botanical extractions, and projected light extends the life of ephemeral moments. Milkweed and ginkgo embody queerness and desire through their textures, flavors, reproductive strategies, folklore, and adaptive behaviors. These transitions reference queer and trans experiences of becoming and unbecoming, where identity is in a constant flux of adaptation and deconstruction.

“This exhibition grows out of a desire to become more attentive to the places and materials that surround me every day. Foraging, making, and learning from these matehavels has changed the way I experience time, place, and reciprocity, and the exhibition is an invitation to share that way of seeing.”