Sarah Fortner: Weeds
Sarah Fortner: Weeds
May 16 – June 22, 2026
Nothing is more beautiful and alien than a close-up view of a plant. Spots and hairs, oddly shaped caverns, unexpected streaks of color; even the humblest daisy reveals itself as a spiral of miniature flowers, moving from tight green buds at the center through powdery pollen to frayed brown seeds at the edges. An entire life cycle is visible in what we call a simple flower.
Botanical studies have been a constant in my practice, a source of both inspiration and renewal. This exhibition continues that exploration, but focuses on the plants we’ve learned to ignore: the wild flora that populate ditches, vacant lots, and forest edges in Orange County, New York. Instead of focusing on showy flowers, I explored the resilient, unloved, everyday plants we call weeds. Rendered as oil paintings, these plants demand the attention we typically reserve for the rare and precious.
As I began photographing and drawing wild plants for this body of work, I was dismayed to discover that a large part of my studies were of plants that were not native, even though I had seen them my entire life. Some, such as purple loosestrife and Norway maple, are considered invasive, disrupting ecosystems and displacing species that evolved here over millennia. Still, others, like white clover and dandelion, are ubiquitous and naturalized but originally came from across the ocean. I found a new appreciation for native mountain laurel, milkweed, and ephemeral trout lilies, but inevitably, my enjoyment of the wild became more tempered.
The presence of non-native plants raises uncomfortable questions. If a plant is harmful to the ecosystem, does depicting its beauty become complicity? At what point are these plants considered part of the landscape? Are attempts to control their spread futile? I’ve turned a critical eye to my own backyard and have begun replacing ornamentals with native plants.
The work focuses on intimate views of common wild plants, exploring stems, flowers, seeds, and decay with equal interest. Each work notes whether its subject is native, naturalized, or invasive. These weeds are everywhere, thriving in the margins we often overlook. They’re beautiful. They’re problematic. They’re persistent. I remind myself that a weed is simply a plant deemed unwanted.
About the artist:
Sarah Fortner is a multidisciplinary artist and arts administrator residing in Orange County, New York. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley, graduating with Highest Honors in 2000. She relocated to New York City in 2001 to pursue a Master of Fine Arts at Hunter College. Since 2008, Fortner has been based in Orange County, New York, where she founded the Washingtonville Artist Collective in 2014. From 2018 to 2024, she served as Executive Director of the Wallkill River Center for the Arts, a nonprofit arts organization in Montgomery, NY. She currently serves as Chair of the Kurt Seligmann Art Committee at the Seligmann Center in Sugar Loaf, NY and works as a grant writer for SUNY Orange in Middletown, NY.
OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, May 16, 5 – 7 pm
Please join us to meet the artist and view the works; light refreshments will be served.
Art receptions and the galleries at WRCA are free and open to the public.
Gallery hours: Friday – Sunday, 12 – 5 pm
Image: Sarah Fortner, Milk Thistle, oil on canvas, 24 x 18 in.
