ABOUT
海野恵 Megumi Gerdes is a Japanese-American artist that explores themes of presence, impermanence, and time through the raw, tactile process of burning. Drawing from her background in landscape architecture, she views landscape not as a fixed image, but as a living, evolving system— one weathered and marked by layers of history, both organic and inorganic.
Gerdes creates ‘burn works’ using paper, incense and light, allowing controlled burns and inscriptions to guide each piece. Light and shadow play an active role in her process, revealing traces of distortion and decay. Her work confronts loss and grief, capturing the essence of yūgen (幽玄)— the haunting beauty of life’s fleeting nature, where the temporary meets the eternal. Through her practice, she offers a slower register, inviting a meditative space for reflection and release.
EDUCATION
2018 MLA, Landscape Architecture, University of Pennsylvania, Weitzman School of Design, Philadelphia, PA
2013 BA, Art History ; Printmaking, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
Press
Interview with Conversations with Artists
Exhibitions
2023 Phainesthasia ‘Objects that Shine Forth,’ Small Works Project, Gallery 263, Cambridge, MA
2017 Tokyo Embers, Tokyo Landscape Futures, Meyerson Hall, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
2017 Horizons, Design in the Terrain of Water, Morgan Gallery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
2017 Float, Pop-Up Print Show, Design in the Terrain of Water, Meyerson Hall, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
2016 Slatelands, Slate Belt Heritage Center, Northampton, PA
2013 Excavations, Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, Middletown, CT
