In Universal Nature, at Ursinus College’s Berman Museum, you can easily feel the breadth of Rebecca Rutstein’s long artistic practice. Rutstein has spent over two decades creating paintings, sculptures, videos, and textiles, buoyed by a passion to connect with and understand complex global systems that are core to our existence on this planet. Universal Nature presents a mid-career survey spanning her oeuvre, with an intellectual focus on continuous change, transformation, and interdependence.
Throughout the exhibition, large, multi-paneled works such as Brine Forest II (2026) and Shape Shifter II (2026) are presented alongside abstract sculpture and collections of smaller mixed-media pieces created on-location with scientists and researchers. Fluidity and organic movement are a consistent visual theme. Her Greenland Series (2026), created during an expedition in concert with the Ocean Memory Project, is an excellent example of her prolonged interest in mixed media, utilizing ink, watercolor, and sea brine.
In her work, Rutstein draws on the study of global biogeochemical systems, fungal networks, and deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Rutstein’s grace lies in her ability to visually represent these vast environmental systems in a way that feels beautiful and approachable.
If you have the good fortune to visit when the museum is quiet, you can hear the soft chiming of Flow (2026) alongside the video installation, Blue Dreams (2023). Sitting quietly, one is immersed in elements of sight, sound, echo, and air movement. Surrounded by the dappled reflections of Flow on the wall and floor, the experience is akin to viewing light from beneath the surface of water, or witnessing the sliding movement of zooplankton on a microscope slide. Being immersed in this visual and auditory environment recalls the composition 4’33” by John Cage, itself an invitation to experience the interconnectedness of the world.
Connection is of great importance in Rutstein’s work, as is the concept of a natural, global ‘memory’, which she explores in pieces such as Synchronicity (2026), inspired by worldwide coral spawning events. Her sense of awe is a reminder that we have limited time to experience the wonder and beauty of our relationship with our world, and of our influence within it. Rutstein invites us to bridge the gap between ourselves and our environment, and foster a sense of belonging within the natural world.
From molecules carried along superhighways of fungal mats to colloidal iron traveling the ocean currents, the tiny elements and massive systems explored in Universal Nature are not only fascinating and approachable, but relevant to our own physical embodiment. Rutstein aims for curiosity, with the goal of making a connection, whether the person arrives through visual experience, reflection of light, or sculptural form. Once we understand and integrate this connection with ourselves, we can develop a greater capacity to care. And once we care, there is no limit to what we can accomplish.
Rebecca Rutstein: Universal Nature
Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art in Collegeville, PA.
On view: June 16-November 24, 2026
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About the writer: Nicole Michaud is an artist, writer, and educator living in Philadelphia. She holds degrees in engineering and the arts and is a graduate of The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, The University of Michigan, and Johns Hopkins University. Michaud’s work has been exhibited in the U.S. and London, including at the Woodmere Art Museum, Every Woman Biennial (NY and London), Art on Paper Fair (NY), Hamptons Fine Art Fair (NY), and Red Dot Art Fair (Miami). She has been profiled in publications including Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, Root Quarterly, and Mezzo Cammin. @nicolemichaudstudio