Suzette Mouchaty’s works blend formal structures of rational scientific thought with the imaginary and subversive of the artistic realm—realizing quirky objects that address sociopolitical issues and environmental concerns. Inspired by marine nudibranchs that are no larger than your thumb, her sculpture for True North 2024, “Monument to Sea Slugs”—made of metal, Styrofoam, stucco, pvc and paint—is composed of two colorful sea slugs rapturously gliding up a carnival pole. One of the many marine species facing extinction because their coral reef habitat is being lost due to warming oceans, these tiny mollusks have consequently become indicators of climate change. Our survival and well-being depend upon healthy ecosystems rich in diversity, and Mouchaty’s sculpture serves to shed light upon the plight of these phenomenal creatures of the sea.

Mouchaty is an artist and scientist who lives, works—a professor of biology for UH-Downtown—and creates her art in Houston. She earned a BS and MS from University of Alaska, Fairbanks, an MFA from University of Houston School of Art, a Ph.D. in Genetics from Lund University, Sweden, and received a Junior Fulbright Fellowship to Sweden. Mouchaty has received grants and scholarships from University of Alaska, Lund University, Glassell School of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston Arts Alliance and University of Houston School of Art. She has held exhibitions, in part, at Mystic Seaport Museum, Connecticut, G Contemporary Gallery, Houston, The Glassell School of Art, University of Houston-Downtown, Hooks-Epstein Galleries, Houston, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, Bill’s Junk, Houston, Blaffer Art Museum, University of Houston, and The Lab, Adelaide, Australia.

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