Beth Shibata: Green, Green Grass of Home

Located 80 miles from Paris, the village of Giverny, which has been populated
since the Neolithic period, became best known as the home of Impressionist painter Claude Monet, who lived there from 1883 until his death in 1926. He painted his house and surrounding gardens repeatedly, reflecting the changing landscape year round. Beth Shibata confesses a similar attachment to Madrona Marsh, a nature preserve nestled in one of the busiest sectors of the city of Torrance. Her show,“Selected Reflections of Earth and Sky: Images of The Madrona Marsh Preserve,” runs April 1-30 at the Schauerman Library at El Camino College in Torrance.

Beth Shibata (Class of '90, M.A., English/Linguistics/TESL) confesses a similar attachment to Madrona Marsh, a nature preserve nestled in one of the busiest sectors of the city of Torrance. The nature photographer has recently opened a show of her work, “Selected Reflections of Earth and Sky: Images of The Madrona Marsh Preserve,” which will run April 1-30 at the Schauerman Library at El Camino College.

“No matter how many times I go, the Preserve is both the same and different,” she says. “Since I'm not out there every day, or even every week, the changes can seem quite dramatic. There are predictable cycles of seasons, but there are always variations in light, temperature, water.  In dry years, I can explore areas that aren't always exposed, and in wetter years, the landscape is very different. Things change as trees die and as the area is altered to return it to a more native state. In the past few years, the oil pumps were removed, and the area was for a short while, exposed. But now it has been planted over with native species and looks different again.

“I feel that there is a wisdom hidden in it that is elusive but is right in front of me, only I don't quite know how to see it," she says. "So I keep trying.”

As green space becomes a premium in urban and suburban environments, Madrona Marsh serves as an oasis for Shibata, who says that “I keep going back because I get de-stressed and recharged even if I can only stay for a few minutes. I can feel myself relax, because it feels like I'm walking into a place where time seems to slow down. The air smells clearer and the sky is largely unobstructed.  Even though I can see and hear cars zipping around the perimeter, I can ignore them. It’s as if they exist in another plane.”

Most of the images in the show were created between 1998 and 2004, and were featured in two solo shows, "Reflections of Earth and Sky" (2003) and "Further Reflections of Earth and Sky" (2004), both originally exhibited at the Madrona Marsh Nature Center. The images explore the different meanings of reflection, both literal and figurative, as Shibata plays with light, natural patterns and trompe d’oeil (fool the eye) imagery.
 
A self-taught photographer since the 1970s when she received her first 35 mm camera, a fixed lens Yashica, as a college graduation gift, Shibata has worked primarily with natural light and with subjects in their natural state. Her images are influenced by her studies in biology and English, as well as her training in the martial arts aikido and iaido. She founded an experimental exhibit space, The Gallery at the Dojo, which was open from 1998 to 2003. Located in a martial arts school, the alternative gallery exhibited works that depicted the connections of beauty, power, discipline, and harmony between the martial arts and the natural world.  The gallery is now online as Gallery Shin Jigen.

Shibata’s work has been exhibited at the Chautauqua Art Association Members Gallery in Chautauqua, NY, as well as in private collections in New York, Florida, and California. She has participated in group shows at The Gallery at the Dojo and the Lotus Festival in Westminster, CA. She has had several solo exhibits at the Madrona Marsh Preserve Nature Center and is a member of the San Pedro Art Association.

The Schauerman at El Camino College is located at 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., in Torrance. For more information, contact Shibata at bjshibata@yahoo.com or call (310) 370-7240.

- Joanie Harmon

Photos above by Beth Shibata: "White Poppies," 2000; "Pond Scum," 2003; "Jitterbugging," 1999