Mary Mattingly eco-art focuses on water as life-giver
The Current, a center for contemporary art in Stowe, VT with a mission to inspire civic engagement and broaden our understanding of the world through contemporary art, announces “Water Writes the Garden,” an exhibition by internationally recognized interdisciplinary artist Mary Mattingly, on view January 15–April 10, 2026. Renowned for large-scale public projects such as Swale, a floating food forest on New York’s waterways, and major exhibitions at institutions including the Brooklyn Museum and Storm King Art Center, Mattingly has emerged as a leading voice in contemporary eco-art. “Water Writes the Garden” represents a pivotal moment in her practice, bringing together photography, sculpture, and poetry to reimagine water as both timekeeper and storyteller.
“Mary Mattingly’s work transforms how we see and think about the systems that sustain life,” said Rachel Moore, Executive Director and Director of Exhibitions at The Current. “With Water Writes the Garden, she invites us to slow down and consider water not just as a resource, but as a storyteller, one that records histories and writes futures into the land itself. The exhibition reflects The Current’s commitment to presenting art that deepens our understanding of ecological interdependence and civic responsibility.”
Drawing on her longstanding exploration of ecology and interdependence, Mattingly approaches water as an essential archive of histories and futures. The works on view are both intimate and expansive, offering poetic meditations on the ways water shapes lived experience and shared environments. “Water Writes the Garden” unites photographs, sculptures, and poetry around water’s role as a timekeeper and storyteller, considering how it shapes landscapes through cycles of formation and erosion. Gardens emerge in her work as cultivated yet fugitive, bearing witness to growth, loss, and renewal.
“Water has so much to teach about movement and time. Following architect Dilip da Cunha who writes that ‘rivers are products of a particular moment in time, clarified by the hydrologic cycle’ I try to understand the temporality of place in this sense, as a moment in a moving system. I grew up where agricultural chemicals contaminated our drinking water; that early lesson impressed upon me how rare access to clean water is. I also saw it as a fundamental right that needed to be protected. Since 2009, in New York City, I’ve been co-creating public sculptural ecosystems that prioritize access to food, shelter, and water.”- Mary Mattingly
Mattingly’s own upbringing in an agricultural town near Springfield, Massachusetts, where the local drinking water was contaminated by agricultural chemicals, shaped her understanding of clean water as both increasingly rare and a fundamental right. This early experience deepened her resolve to protect water and informed her approach to ecological art. Since 2001, she has lived in New York City, creating sculptural ecosystems that prioritize access to food, shelter, and water, bringing these concerns into both public and gallery-based work. Water Writes the Garden is part of The Current’s ongoing program of exhibitions and public initiatives designed to spark reflection, dialogue, and civic engagement around pressing social and environmental issues.
THE CURRENT
90 Pond Street Stowe, Vermont 05672
Gallery Hours: 10am-5pm, Monday – Friday, Saturday 10am-3pm
802 253 8358
ABOUT MARY MATTINGLY
Mary Mattingly is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores ecological relationships through sculptural ecosystems, performative installations, and research-based collaborations. Rooted in a deep inquiry into urban ecology and interdependence, her work addresses urgent issues around water, food systems, and climate adaptation.
Her public projects, such as Swale, a floating food forest in New York City’s waterways; Waterpod, a self-sufficient living structure on a barge; and the Flock House Project, a series of mobile habitats, reimagine civic infrastructure through community engagement and poetic provocation.
Mattingly’s work has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, Storm King Art Center, the International Center of Photography, MoMA, the Barbican, Seoul Art Center, and the Palais de Tokyo. She has received fellowships and residencies from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Yale School of Art, A Blade of Grass, and the Anchorage Museum among others.
At the core of Mattingly’s practice is a belief in art as a form of investigation and a tool for imagining adaptive futures. Her installations often function both symbolically and practically: creating space for gathering, co-learning, and reflecting on systems of resource extraction and ecological resilience.
ABOUT THE CURRENT
The Current is a Center for Contemporary Art. The Current strives to create human connection through contemporary art exhibitions that challenge and inspire. We are committed to supporting the work of diverse artists: from emerging to established artists, from commissions that generate new, original work; to exhibitions that reframe an artist’s practice; to experimental residencies.
The Current strives to meet artists where their work demands it and to carve out a distinct position in our region’s artistic ecology. As a conduit for civic engagement, The Current is the union of an international art gallery and a modern take on a community art center. Through education, programs and events The Current strives to spark creativity and progressive thought in our members and beyond.
Founded in 1981 in a historic building, The Current is the primary arts resource for Lamoille County and surrounding towns in Vermont. We offer year-round classes, tours, workshops, and other interactive programs. Our goal is to make the visual arts inclusive and accessible to all.
