At some point during the recent holiday rush, I found myself suddenly misty eyed while peering into a lit display of long-deceased leaf insects. Maybe it was the stress of the season, maybe the state of the nation. But something about the arrangement of adaptable arthropods — preserved in a rainbow of camouflage colors — was deeply moving. All of these little creatures, making their way in our troubled world.
This happened at the traveling exhibit Exquisite Creatures, on view in the Maritime Building on Alaskan Way through 2027. It’s the brainchild of Christopher Marley, an Oregonian and former graphic designer and model. After a mind-opening insect encounter during a fashion shoot in early 1990s Taiwan, he began devoting time to exploring the beauty of wild animals he’d never before seen.
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Now Marley works as an artist and conservationist, creating displays of real organisms (insects, reptiles, birds, sea life — but never mammals) that highlight the dizzying variety within genus and species. His graphic design background comes into play with clean, geometric presentations. Rather than mimicking natural habitats, his simple white backgrounds and black frames accentuate the incredible detail and vivid color of these biological artifacts.
The exhibit starts with a short video providing background on how Marley came to create this collection. I’m usually averse to mandatory video introductions but he comes off as likeable and down-to-earth, noting, “I was terrified of insects for most of my life” and later confessing that he still harbors an aversion to roaches. Growing up in Salem, Oregon, Marley says he was “a lizard freak” who spent a lot of time drawing monsters. As an adult, he is continually entranced by the enormous diversity of the real-world animal kingdom.
Polka-dotted freshwater rays, porcupine pufferfish and parrots. Red-eyed tree frogs, brittle stars and sea urchins. Frilled dragons, weedy and leafy seadragons (unreal!). A dusky batfish, honeycomb eel, snakes and starfish of all stripes and colors. Countless gleaming iridescent beetles and butterflies, and an imposing Japanese spider crab boasting a legspan of 10 feet. All of these walk, swim and fly among us — or rather, we among them.
Most of the specimens shown are collected through reclamation; Marley receives animals that have died at zoos, aquariums and research institutions and preserves them in their true-to-life form. The aquatic creatures often come by way of bycatch. Insects are wild-caught by Indigenous catchers, an arrangement that Marley notes “offers an economic incentive to preserve local habitats.”
Only 5% of the specimens are augmented with pigments (in cases where color has faded in death). The rest are shown in their natural hues and patterning, which are often unbelievably vivid.
There is a ton to look at here, with interactive light boxes that help you see the tiniest creatures more clearly. Sure, the New Age soundtrack loop becomes a little tiresome after a while, but it’s worth it to witness such evolutionary diversity up close. The show is a powerful reminder that the earth is home to innumerable living beings worthy of protection (including humans). As Marley puts it, “We find beauty in nature because we are a part of it, and it is a part of us.”
Also bountiful and rewarding: the many artful ways of starting your year off on the good foot. For example…
1. Take a brisk First Thursday Art Walk
The rain promises to pause for the first Pioneer Square Art Walk of 2026 (Jan. 8, tonight!), which is reason enough to head downtown and join the hubbub. There are a couple of new spaces in the mix, including Actualize AiR, which has moved its hive of studios from the former Banana Republic downtown to a street-level space on Prefontaine Place South. The grand opening festivities feature a group show of artist-in-residence work, including pieces by Baso Fibonacci, Kalina Chung, Mary Anne Carter and Nadia Ahmed (exhibit runs through Feb. 22).
Also new to Pioneer Square is Gallery B612, located near ArtX Contemporary on First Avenue South. Kicking off the grand opening is Jogakbo Journeys (Jan. 8 - Mar. 25) a show by Northwest artist Bella Kim, who uses Korean patchwork traditions to sew together plastic packaging, fabric scraps and other detritus of daily life. Also on view is a show of small works featuring artists from South Korea to Poland to Seattle.
See also: Fused (Jan. 8 - 24 ), a new group show of glass art at Foster/White Gallery, including work by Fumi Amano, Katie Miller and David Hendren. And next door at Greg Kucera Gallery, see Seattle artist Dan Webb’s new show of carved-wood wonders (plus a couple forays into stained glass), Yespalier (Jan. 8 - Feb. 21; artist talk Jan. 10 at noon).
2. Catch up on shows you’ve been meaning to see
There’s no shame in procrastinating (at least not from me) but several strong shows are about to disappear, so catch ‘em quick:
Beau Dick: Insatiable Beings (at Frye Art Museum through Jan. 18). Incredible Indigenous masks (read my previous review).
Farm to Table: Art Food and Identity in the Age of Impressionism (at Seattle Art Museum through Jan. 18). Beautiful work from the 1800s — and don’t miss the embedded gift shop with fun (and funny) foodie gifts.
Vitamin P:NW Recent Painting in the Pacific Northwest (at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner through Jan. 11), featuring work by Humaira Abid, Klara Glosova, Cable Griffith, Whiting Tennis, Anthony White and many others.
Myself inside your story (at the Whatcom Museum’s Lightcatcher Building in Bellingham through Jan. 28), an expansive retrospective by Seattle-based Lebanese American artist Mary Ann Peters, who explores “incomplete” Middle Eastern stories in her evocative sculptures, paintings and drawings.
3. Sway and sing along to live music
Seattle concert producer and marimba player Erin Jorgensen is known for both playing the vibes and setting a cool vibe. Her latest concoction is surely a cure for January darkness: Nordic Pop at the National Nordic Museum (Jan. 14, 2-4 p.m.). Local artists including Sarah Rudinoff, Splinter Percussion, and The Borealis String Quartet will perform new arrangements of music by Robyn, Lykke Li, Aurora and Björk. It’s all-ages and billed as a “concert/dance party,” so be ready to move.
Meanwhile, the Crowdsource Choir invites you to Sing Seattle Songs (Town Hall Seattle, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.) alongside fellow fans of local bands. Chosen by online vote, the sing-along songs include Nirvana’s “Come As You Are,” The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights,” Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe” and a couple belters (use your diaphragm!): Brandi Carlile’s “The Story” and Heart’s “Alone.”
Also encouraging you to sing loud and proud: The Rodgers and Hammerstein Sound of Music Sing-a-long at The 5th Avenue Theatre (Jan. 17 - 18), including a screening of the 1965 musical and an audience duly decked out in costumes.
At the Royal Room, Painting the Town Red (Jan. 19, Martin Luther King Day) celebrates the music of Billie Holiday with live covers by a killer band that includes local jazz stars Johnaye Kendrick, Ray Larsen and D’vonne Lewis.
4. Dig deep into a new book
Bainbridge-based author David Guterson (Snow Falling On Cedars) just released his newest novel, Evelyn in Transit — an unusual tale based on the true story of a Seattle mother who was told her son was the reincarnation of a Tibetan Buddhist lama. Guterson invents Evelyn’s backstory with simple, incisive prose that reveals how her childhood as a “misfit” leads to an extraordinary series of events. He’s reading at a bunch of local places, including Eagle Harbor Books (Jan. 20) and Town Hall Seattle (Jan. 22).
Lynnwood writer Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum (Elita) has a new collection of stories called Outer Stars, which has already won the 2025 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. Lunstrum is highly skilled at evoking place and landscape, and in these seven stories she does so while exploring the human capacity for grief and connection. She’ll read at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park (Jan. 15).
A couple very-non-local writers are also making the reading rounds: Irish author Colm Tóibín visits Town Hall with Seattle Arts and Lectures (Jan. 13) to talk about his new novel Long Island; and Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgård will discuss his new novel The School of Night, also at Town Hall Seattle (Jan. 18). I hear these guys are pretty good. ;)
Don’t miss Season 2 of Art by Northwest, featuring in-depth interviews with the printmakers, painters, sculptors, carvers and photographers who are creating captivating work across Washington state.
