Chlorophyll: The Living Green of Plants, 2026
cut photograph on stack of paper
Stephanie Barlow
Caught Between the Tongue and the Taste
August 29 — October 17, 2026
When we experience a sensation, there is a fleeting interval before perception, when attention remains with the experience itself. Stephanie Barlow describes this gap as the space where wonder occurs, and where she invites us to remain in Caught Between the Tongue and the Taste.
Through slow acts of collecting and connecting—walking, foraging, observing, welding, weaving, and concocting—Barlow extends this moment of suspension by changing the conditions under which we encounter everyday objects, affording the manufactured and organic, valued and discarded, the same democracy of attention. Informed by her experience as a fabricator, Barlow brings the often-unseen labor of artistic production into proximity with the work continually unfolding within ecological systems.
Rooted in her curiosity about geology and plant ecology, Barlow’s practice shares science’s impulse toward observation and inquiry, while play frees her from the need to arrive at an answer. Caught Between the Tongue and the Taste extends this openness to the viewer, creating a space in which the ordinary can be encountered before it settles into explanation. By lingering there, Barlow invites us to practice a quality of attention in which wonder is found not in extraordinary things, but in ordinary things encountered with extraordinary attention.
OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, August 29th | 3 — 6pm
Closing Reception
Saturday, October 17th | 1 — 4pm
Herron Galleries
735 W New York St.
Indianapolis, Indiana
Marsh Gallery
Wednesday — Saturday | 12 — 5pm
Stephanie Barlow [ b. 1988, American ] explores our connections with the natural world and brings into focus the endlessness of time and change in the everyday. Material curiosities lead her present and playful practice through drawing, painting, printmaking, collage, and sculpture. Barlow also works behind the scenes as a welder, fabricator, and installer with and for other artists. She holds a BFA from Southern Utah University and an MFA from Herron School of Art and Design. She currently lives and works in Indianapolis, IN.
Herron Galleries at the Herron School of Art + Design, Indiana University Indianapolis, connects artists, students, and the broader community through exhibitions and programs that foster experimentation, dialogue, and creative exploration. As a non-commercial, non-collecting contemporary art space, the galleries provide artists with opportunities to take risks, explore new ideas, and create meaningful encounters with contemporary art. This exhibition marks the first project in an ongoing collaboration between Herron Galleries and COMPANION. Rooted in a shared commitment to artist-centered practice, research, and public engagement, the collaboration brings together Herron’s role as a university exhibition space with COMPANION’s model of artist stewardship through exhibitions, publications, and community building.
Images by Anna Powell Denton.