The concept of “the book of nature” has its origins with Augustine, the theologian and philosopher. He recognized that God can be known, not only through written Scripture, but through God’s creative work in the cosmos. “But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Note it. Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead, He set before your eyes the things that He had made.”

This exhibition features five artists who explore the natural world as an intricacy that points to God’s creative authorship. The exhibition includes woodblock prints, cyanotype photography, painting, installation, and textile work.

Exhibition Dates: September 17 to October 22, 2026.

Opening Reception: Thursday September 17, 5 – 7 p.m.

Artists: Cheryl Hochberg, Wilhelmina Kennedy, Wes Peel, Jackie Partridge, Diana Scholtens 

Artist Descriptions:

Cheryl Hochberg   (Instagram: @cherlhochberg)

Hochberg is an Arizona-based painter and printmaker whose enigmatic images develop from sustained interactions with specific places. As she deepens her connection to a place, the people, ecology, landscape, and wildlife gradually populate her artistic imagination. The exhibition will feature 10 of her exquisite original prints with a focus on the Sonoran Desert, New Jersey, and China.

Hochberg characterizes her posture, in these complex natural sites, as “listening.” She experiences the humility of having expectations thwarted, and the site’s voice come to the forefront. In the subtle labour of printmaking, she has a sense of “word made flesh,” of spiritual mystery becoming visible in a work of beautiful form.

Wilhelmina Kennedy

Wilhelmina Kennedy (1933 – 2025) was an artist and gallery organizer whose work was deeply motivated by her faith. For many years, her series Ultimate Realities has graced the Executive Dining Room at Redeemer. Bringing these works into the pristine space of the newly renovated art gallery will bring new light to these familiar works, celebrating their thematic depth and ambitious vision.

Ultimate Realities examines the relationship between God’s word revealed in the Book of Scripture and God’s word revealed in the Book of Nature. Architectural details, such as cathedral arches, pillars, and windows, are painted in warmer tones that evoke the presence of “God With Us” revealed in Scripture. These sacred motifs frame expansive landscape views, yet the natural order is expressed in cool greys, whites, and browns: locked in a kind of alienation, colour drained. Perhaps she is calling for Christians to move through the sacred arches, to value Creation more deeply, to mend the broken relationship caused by seeing nature in materialist and extractivist terms.

Wes Peel    (Instagram: @wespeel)

Wes Peel, of Oshawa, is fascinated by 19th century photographic processes, such as pinhole and cyanotype,  that create compelling and unique ways of imaging the world. Several of the cyanotypes in the exhibition have been altered by other processes: overlaying a print with black-light fluid, or puncturing an image at the firing range, or mending a distressed image with threads. Each of the images invites us to look beyond surface appearances and reductionism, to seek meaning in presence.

Peel is an Adjunct Professor of Art at Redeemer, teaching photography and digital media.

Jackie Partridge   (Instagram: @jackiepartridge_)

Jackie Partridge, of rural Waterloo Region, is a mixed media artist who transforms everyday materials into drawings, performances, sculptures, and installations. She is creating an installation for the new feature wall at the Redeemer Gallery. She is working with maps, paper, books, and textiles to create evocative images of a transforming landscape. Cutting shapes into atlases, for example, invites viewers to see through many pages of official content, revealed by an absence, a gap in knowledge. She uses her hand-made paper mash to bandage and mend injured trees, relinquishing the bound role of a book in order to find a meaningful relationship with the natural world. 

Diana Scholtens    (Instagram: @glimpses_of_eden)

Diana Scholtens is a fibre artist and printmaker whose work is deeply rooted in her love for the natural world. Her artistic inspiration is drawn from the intricate connections between native flora and fauna, and she expresses this relationship through her unique approach to textile art. Recently, she has expanded her artistic horizons by experimenting with natural dyes and repurposed fabrics, demonstrating a commitment to sustainable and eco-friendly practices.

At the thematic core of Diana’s work lies the biblical call to be ‘stewards of the garden.’ This theme serves as the guiding principle for her medium choices, artistic practices, and subject matter. As an artist, she is committed to continuously evaluating the narrative she communicates through her creations, striving to strike a balance between creativity and conscientious consideration of the ecological impact of her art.