Studies in Natural Form
curated by: Yana Mikho-Misho
Aug 29 – Oct 25, 2026
Yasmeen Kwan
Pavla Margo
Christopher Owen Smith
Juliette Thimmig
Rebekah Wilhelm
Pavla Margo
Christopher Owen Smith
Juliette Thimmig
Rebekah Wilhelm
MoCHA + Conservancy for CVNP Exhibition
Opening Reception: Saturday, Aug 29, 12 – 3pm
Nature has long served as a source of observation, but Wild Order looks beyond representation to explore the systems, rhythms, and material intelligence that shape the living world. Bringing together five contemporary artists working across printmaking, mixed media, drawing, and painting study, the exhibition examines how organic forms are translated, reconstructed, and reimagined through distinct artistic practices.
Rather than depicting nature directly, the works engage with its underlying logic growth, repetition, adaptation, and balance. Botanical studies, layered compositions, relief surfaces, and three-dimensional painted forms reveal how natural structures can become visual languages, where observation gives way to interpretation.
Moving between order and unpredictability, the exhibition embraces the tension between careful construction and organic evolution. Nature emerges not simply as subject matter, but as a catalyst for making, shaping process, material, and imagination.
Wild Order invites viewers to slow down and consider how the patterns of the natural world continue to influence the ways artists see, build, and transform their surroundings.
Yasmeen Kwan
Pavla Margo
Christopher Owen Smith
Juliette Thimmig
Rebekah Wilhelm
Rather than depicting nature directly, the works engage with its underlying logic growth, repetition, adaptation, and balance. Botanical studies, layered compositions, relief surfaces, and three-dimensional painted forms reveal how natural structures can become visual languages, where observation gives way to interpretation.
Moving between order and unpredictability, the exhibition embraces the tension between careful construction and organic evolution. Nature emerges not simply as subject matter, but as a catalyst for making, shaping process, material, and imagination.
Wild Order invites viewers to slow down and consider how the patterns of the natural world continue to influence the ways artists see, build, and transform their surroundings.
Yasmeen Kwan
Pavla Margo
Christopher Owen Smith
Juliette Thimmig
Rebekah Wilhelm
August 29 – October 25, 2026
Opening Reception:
Saturday, Aug 29 / 12 – 3pm
Opening Reception:
Saturday, Aug 29 / 12 – 3pm
Boston Gallery Hours:
Saturday & Sunday, 11am – 3pm
Saturday & Sunday, 11am – 3pm
Cuyahoga National Valley Park (CVNP)
1565 Boston Mills Rd., Peninsula, OH
Parking is available at the Boston Mill Visitor Center at 6947 Riverview Rd.
or Boston Trailhead at 1508 Boston Mills Rd.
1565 Boston Mills Rd., Peninsula, OH
Parking is available at the Boston Mill Visitor Center at 6947 Riverview Rd.
or Boston Trailhead at 1508 Boston Mills Rd.
- Yasmeen KwanartistYasmeen Kwan was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Her work utilizes painting and ceramic sculpture intersecting orientalism and appropriation of Black and East Asian culture, cross-referencing history, racial hierarchy, and aesthetics that have shaped harmful perceptions. Her current work brings awareness to negative interminority exchanges conditioned under oppressions. Kwan’s work has been exhibited in "Blooming Tides" at the Waterloo Arts gallery, 2026 BFA Summer Showcase at the Cleveland Institute of Art, and at the Transformer Station in Cleveland, Ohio and produced the group show "Cherished Impressions" at the Cleveland Hopkins Airport. She has also been awarded the Eastman (1912)-Bolton Memorial Prize in recognition of a promising Junior majoring in Painting. Kwan recently graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2026 earning her BFA degree.
- Pavla MargoartistPavla Margo / Rita Pavlova (b. 1962, Russia) is a self-taught artist based in Euclid, Ohio. Trained professionally as an electrical engineer, she has lived in the United States since 1996 and has devoted more than fifteen years to developing a unique artistic practice working with cold porcelain.
Pavlova creates sculptural compositions on canvas that merge relief sculpture and painting. Her works primarily floral arrangements, still lifes, and ikebana-inspired forms appear as three-dimensional paintings, combining intricate hand-modeled elements with layered mixed-media backgrounds.
Her creative process begins with imagining a composition and color palette before translating the vision into sculptural form. Recent works are inspired by the expressive color language and paintings of Vincent van Gogh, exploring the emotional power of color and movement.
Her work has been exhibited in regional exhibitions and art fairs throughout the Greater Cleveland area and is held in private collections. - Christopher Owen SmithartistChristopher Owen Smith was born in rural-suburban mid-Ohio and studied fine arts and design at the Columbus College of Art & Design and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia.
His academic career was followed by several months in Japan for Soto Zen monastic training in the Japan alps and a sculptural/ceramic apprenticeship with Kakuho Saito on the Fukui coast.
After a couple road trips across the U.S., he now lives and works in Northeast Ohio. Inspired by the natural rhythms & textures in nature, mixed media processes, and Naturalist John Muir, "When we tug at a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world. - Juliette ThimmigartistJuliette Thimmig (b. 1994) is a multidisciplinary painter and printmaker living in Northeast, OH. Working in both mixed media and woodcut her work explores folklore, environmental disturbances, human error, and the pleasures of being alive. Thimmig received her BFA from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2016.
- Rebekah WilhelmartistRebekah Wilhelm is a professional installation artist and printmaker. Her work is conceptually based and is mainly produced through installation and print. She has shown her work in multiple group and curated shows, as well as traveling portfolios both nationally and internationally.
She has traveled to Germany and Taiwan for residencies and has shown in multiple group shows internationally.
Rebekah specializes in green printmaking and is involved in researching and developing green practices in printmaking.
The Conservancy for CVNP+MoCHA partnership:
This exhibition is part of a collaborative partnership between the Conservancy for CVNP and MoCHA. The Conservancy for CVNP is a non-profit organization created to engage public support for the park and provide services to enhance public use and enjoyment of the park. The Conservancy aspires to engage the public as advocates, volunteers, and philanthropic supporters to ensure that Cuyahoga Valley National Park achieves its full benefit to the citizens of Northeast Ohio and the nation.
This exhibition is part of a collaborative partnership between the Conservancy for CVNP and MoCHA. The Conservancy for CVNP is a non-profit organization created to engage public support for the park and provide services to enhance public use and enjoyment of the park. The Conservancy aspires to engage the public as advocates, volunteers, and philanthropic supporters to ensure that Cuyahoga Valley National Park achieves its full benefit to the citizens of Northeast Ohio and the nation.
Boston Gallery Hours:
Saturday & Sunday, 11am – 3pm
Saturday & Sunday, 11am – 3pm
Cuyahoga National Valley Park (CVNP)
1565 Boston Mills Rd., Peninsula, OH
1565 Boston Mills Rd., Peninsula, OH