The Hudson River School was a 19th-century American art movement celebrated for its romanticised depictions of the American landscape. It grappled with tensions between the man-made and the natural, often framed through the lens of nationalistic fervour and industrial progress. Beneath the surface allure of pristine wilderness, rests layers of questionable ideologies, like the mythologising of untouched landscapes and the neglect of indigenous lands and cultures.

Everberg’s rich, luscious oil and enamel paintings absorb these underlying themes and allow viewers to reconsider this perception of the American wilderness. She observes the impacts of industry on natural ecosystems, questioning the unchecked pursuit towards ‘progress’ and its effects on the environment. These works invite us to reflect on the historical complications of the idealised American landscape, while encouraging us to think about our present-day relationship with our environment and the shaping of our collective narrative.

Kirsten Everberg lives and works in Los Angeles. She has had solo exhibitions at the Pomona College Museum of Art, CA, Le Consortium, Dijon, France; and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, AZ. She has been included in exhibitions at several international institutions including Hayward Gallery, London, United Kingdom; FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver BC, Canada; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; and Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nancy, France. Her work is in the public collections of Le Consortium, Dijon, France; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles, CA; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nancy, France; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, Claremont, CA; and UCLA Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.