Abundance The most recent series of watercolor paintings by Allison Maletz serves to celebrate our community in Sullivan County, New York. The thriving wild ecosystem is always in motion. A plethora of native flora and fauna along with its pests and invasive species complete our gardens, public spaces and conversations. Weeds stretch to the sky and support pollinators. Insects glow like gems as they reproduce and destroy our homegrown and commercial produce. One season grapes abound, and we make preserves from our excess, while we squash Spotted Lanternflies before they drain the sap from our trees and vineyards. Wild black raspberries consume the garden, producing fruit even when uninvited, and Japanese Beetles leave apertures like lace in their leaves. We see majestic bucks … delivering more ticks to our playgrounds and trails. We celebrate and curse it all in tandem. Our world is plentiful, and in an instant, this torrent is diminished - perhaps decimated.

We do not pick our neighbors, we try our best to adapt to them. As we contemplate the profusion of all that surrounds us, favorable and dreaded, do we ever stop to consider our part in all this? We label species as invasive, alien and non-native, but isn’t that what we are to them - not only to them, but also to this unceded territory? At its core, Abundance is a collection of paintings examining interspecies relationships that carefully observe hunter and prey / pest and prize and how completely subjective it all feels. These life sized paintings reveal creatures and vegetation on display, mid narrative, against a bleak backdrop. Maletz’ style teeters on the edge of botanical observations whilst embracing all the nuances and possibilities of her medium: watercolor. These paintings are her effort to convey gratitude - to the land, the creatures, this place - through all its complexities.

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