Desirée Patterson: Interglacial

Saturday, July 11, 2026

The Reach Gallery Museum, 32388 Veterans Way, Abbotsford, BC

Published by The Reach Gallery Museum

Installation view of Desirée Patterson: Interglacial from underneath her monumental cyanotype textile installation, Still in Place Interglacial , a solo exhibition by Vancouver-based environmental artist Desirée Patterson, focuses on the present as a critical moment in deep history, one in which the global climate crisis puts the future well-being of our planet, and all the living beings it hosts, in the balance. Crucial to the regeneration of our planet, ice ages are expansive cycles of geologic time, in which ice proliferates over the surfaces of the Earth. In our present interglacial, a warmer period defined by the end of one ice age and the beginning of the next, we are faced with the haunting possibility that our planet may never experience another ice age. Glaciers and forests, both key features of the natural environment of British Columbia and Canada, are endangered ecosystems rendered fragile and interdependent in the face of the ongoing global climate crisis. Some such landscapes might feel geographically and emotionally distant, while others eerily familiar; yet their vitality is essential to us all. Patterson invites us to immerse ourselves in their beauty, admire their capacity for survival or even regeneration, and develop or deepen our commitment to their stewardship.