Feral Botanica

'Feral Botanica' is an exhibition by New York-based artist Hidenori Ishii at the HUB-Robeson Galleries at Penn State in University Park, on view in the HUB Gallery. Through immersive installation, painting and reflective works, the show invites visitors to consider the evolving relationship between natural and built environments, examining the interconnectedness of civilization and nature and encouraging reflection on urban transformation, community and the environment. Central to the exhibition is an installation that creates an imagined botanical environment inspired by urban spaces. Drawing from Ishii's ongoing 'OTF-SL' series, the work features fruits and vegetation emerging within layered pictorial fields shaped by reflections and the movement of water. Green construction barricades, reflective surfaces and a translucent plexiglass viewing window ask visitors to reconsider familiar boundaries between nature and the built environment. Large-scale mirror works positioned within a narrow passageway, along with pieces from Ishii's 'MIRROR' series, explore visibility, reflection and environmental concerns through layered transparent imagery. Born in Yonezawa, Japan, Ishii earned an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a BFA from George Mason University, and among his honors is the Henry Walters Traveling Fellowship to Iceland. He is represented by Erin Cluley Gallery in Dallas, C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore and Tian Contemporain in Montreal. The exhibition runs through October 31, with an artist reception and public conversation to be announced in fall 2026.