Mayme Kratz's 'Dark Garden' Art Exhibit at Lisa Sette Gallery Explores the Mysteries of the Desert

Artist Mayme Kratz’s mixed-media exhibition, "Dark Garden," is at Lisa Sette Gallery in central Phoenix through April 29. An initial look at the work immediately inspires two things: a deeper dive and an understanding that the artist has a profound relationship with the desert landscape.

These artworks create shapes, patterns, and structures that don’t just reflect nature but exist because of it. Kratz is a desert dweller whose love for the magic and mystery of its boundless space is made from objects she collects on her journeys.

Once she selects her components – which can include seeds, bones, and poppy pods – they’re arranged on a panel to her desire. They’re subsequently encased in a resin that dries slowly and doesn’t appear to compromise each piece’s final vision.

Not only do the art pieces in "Dark Garden" present the beauty of the desert and urban areas that Kratz regularly visits, but they are also a testament to the depth and mystery of the sprawling, mountainous ranges.

Vanishing Light 37, sizeable at 4 feet in each direction, finds greenish-brown grass in a wreath-like configuration. Its inner circle is open, allowing the blue and black background to create a hole that feels infinite. The placement of the grass around that inside circle also takes on a floral shape of its own.

This piece also shows the artist’s keen ability to play with light and dark. Several slivers of the grass pop with brightness at the front, and black gives way to a rich blue in the background. It's as if you're watching it beneath a late-night moon or an early-morning sun. It becomes easy to get drawn into the center's endlessness, but the grass ring's layered thickness holds you back just enough to enjoy it as a whole.


Gallery owner Lisa Sette has been working with Kratz for over 30 years, and says the artist’s deep relationship with her surroundings is undeniable.

“She innately understands the natural cycle of human life and nature – maybe that they are not so different from one another,” Sette says. She likens Kratz to iconic 20th-century painter Georgia O’Keefe. “I tease her and call her Georgia, as like O’Keefe; she sees and processes the West in her own way.”

Kratz’s “way” results in simultaneously ethereal and temporal artwork, showing nature’s vastness and value. And while her artwork has long been threaded with these desert treasures and collectibles, Sette likes that each body of work offers something unexpected.

“While Mayme has utilized similar materials over her long career,” Sette says. “She pushes herself both poetically and physically with each new body of work to create pieces that celebrate the natural world in a completely unique manner."

More abstract are pieces like Winter Bloom 1. Composed of poppy pods and hesperaloe seeds on panel, the piece, while blue, golden, and green, is reminiscent of a microscopic view of platelets. Looking at it is akin to taking a desert hike – loaded with twists, turns, and pathways. The more you stare, the more hypnotic it becomes.

While the motion in Winter Bloom 1 is captivating, it also takes you beyond the aesthetics of nature. You can’t help but think about the biology of plants, their complex structures, and the numerous ways they impact the environment.


And that’s just the plants. Circle Dream 88 is a showstopper. It includes resin, deer spine, Juniper loam, and mistletoe on panel. It reminds us of the animals and insects occupying the desert space, inspiring more thought about how all living things act, react, and intersect.

Items in this piece are again placed in a circular form with a broad center. On the outer ring, more objects are placed around its periphery and to each border. The hole in the middle offers a foundation for all the items surrounding it, as they – seemingly weightless – dance around a cyclical path.

Gallerist Sette says the show and Kratz’s work inspire viewers “to pay attention to the small things we tend to overlook in nature – to not take them for granted and to celebrate them.”

Beyond the expert skills behind these visually unique pieces, a trip through Kratz’s “Dark Garden” is an opportunity to assess and evaluate your personal relationship with the natural world.

Mayme Kratz's "Dark Garden" exhibition is at Lisa Sette Gallery, 210 East Catalina Drive, through April 29. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free. Call 480-990-7342 or visit lisasettegallery.com.