Natural Dyes & Pigments of the Sierra Nevada

Ivy Guild, a Reno-based artist, received her MFA in Studio Art from the University of California, Irvine in 2021. A native to the desert, Guild was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ, and moved to San Diego in 2012 to pursue a degree in Marine Biology. Four years later, she graduated with dual degrees in Visual Arts and Art History. Guild channels her medical history, climate change pre-PTSD, and scientific research interests into her artwork. She immerses herself in queer ecologies of a post-human world, searching for environmental justice in anthropomorphic vignettes. Solastalgia propels her to shape sanctuaries and evolved beings that thrive amidst human detritus. Guild considers herself amoebic in her continuous adoption of new art mediums, often hybridizing analog and digital practices. She has a penchant for collecting remnants and scavenging raw natural materials. Her work manifests in multimedia installations that merge organic and inorganic materials. Guild’s recent work engages fiber practices centered on natural dye research, and biological mimicry of desert dwellers such as insects, cacti, and geological formations. By anthropomorphizing the speculative creatures of environments yet to come, Guild hopes to engender empathy for the natural world. Ivy Guild is an Assistant Teaching Professor and area head for Visual Foundations in the Department of Art, Art History and Design at the University of Nevada, Reno. Her work is in the permanent collections of San Diego State University and Smith College, amongst others.