With his wry sculptural work, Aaron Dysart critiques society's obsession with fixing and "improving" the natural environment. He finds it amusing, if not disturbing, that modern civilization treats the natural world with distance, as something foreign that needs to be tamed or softened. As he puts it, "Humans are, of course, natural, but we like to think we are different."

Dysart often uses trees to talk about this societal obsession. With Preserve 1, 2014, the artist has set about fixing a portion of a tree limb by sanding down its rough edges and filling in, with pink and gray auto body filler, any dents or cracks that develop from the natural drying process. The result is a bizarrely patchy yet smooth and seamless log. For the counterpart, Preserve 2, 2015, the artist eliminates altogether the problem of surface imperfections in the wood grain by completely covering the limb in aluminum foil, a protective material that further removes the wood from its normal state. While the "fixing" of these organic objects seems absurd, in a larger context the desire to constantly improve or fight against the natural order often makes a problem worse. The artificial suppression of wildfires, for example, increases the fire hazards in many rural Western communities.

The lesson one takes from Dysart's interventions and playful absurdities-such as a boat constructed of soap whose purpose is to clean a river, or underwear designed to cover tree branch crotches—is that nature is not concerned with our desires. Trees themselves are living creatures that seek to grow and thrive regardless of the obstacles they encounter. Slow-moving though they may be, their roots stealthily penetrate our plumbing and subtly heave our sidewalks. Second Growth, a live ponderosa tree, underscores this essential drive as it bursts through the wall and reaches for the skylight above, oblivious to the sanctity of the pristine gallery space. Responsible environmental stewardship may require less intervention and more thoughtful understanding of our place in the world, lest we become the victims of our own doing.

- Kathleen Ash-Milby