With an attentiveness to the natural world, Rustle presents work by Ash Ferlito, Tristan Higginbotham, and Eric William Carroll. Blue Boy is among a new wave of unique artist-run spaces cropping up around the South. With its unassuming exterior of a freestanding garage in a residential neighborhood, the interior presents exhibitions that transcend the typical humdrum of the white cube gallery model. There is an incredible synergy to the work in Rustle. It’s not often that butterflies, moths, and other pollinators flit in and out of the gallery.This phenomena was embraced on opening night as Ferlito set up an area for mothing—an activity akin to birding but with winged insects—arranging a muslin sheet and light source to attract these beautiful creatures.
On the outside, Ferlito’s Virgin Tiger Moth (2023), a rhombus-shaped painting on muslin atop a pole, stands, jutting out from a blooming Lantana. Much of Ferlito’s work is like this throughout Rustle. Angular and geometrical arrangements of dyed fabric mimic specific moth’s wings and like the wing of a moth the works offer an airiness and serenity. However, in two pieces, one being Confused Haploa Moth (2023), the use of leather stands out in particular, in part due to a handmade belt wrapped around the top angled edges of the sculpture’s point. On said belt are sequins and plastic jewelry bedazzling the leather, ornamental and similar to a winged insect’s ability to attract or repel outside forces, be they prey, predator, or potential mate.
Occupying the far wall of the gallery hangs Black Willow (04/25/22, 05/02/22, 05/09/22) (2022), the sole work of Carroll’s in Rustle. This large-scale series of cyanotypes depicts brush and branches, flora of a landscape found outside Carroll’s studio in North Carolina that is rendered to actual scale. Like a monotone aurora borealis, it captures dappling sunlight, rendering it still and ethereal. At the bottom of the work, tall grass and a sapling make their presence known in negative space against the rich blue background. It is impressive in how it arrests a moment that is otherwise fleeting.
If Carroll’s work depicts an expansive view of nature and Ferlito’s hones in on specific aspects of winged species, then the work of Tristan Higginbotham bridges the two with a visceral and almost mutated response. Similarities can be drawn with The Shout (2025) where a red-eared slider turtle shell is mounted on the wall, its belly covered in a mesh with butterfly wings. It’s a sight not dissimilar to the set up for mothing. Higginbotham’s work appears delicate, sinewy, often symmetrical, giving the feeling of fossilized remains. If one is not repulsed by their use of animal remains, these works are a treat to behold and fascinating in their arrangement.
Rustle delivers a captivating grouping that not only coalesces the work of these three artists, but harnesses the natural world surrounding the gallery’s unique position, causing a moment of reflection and encouraging a more intentional viewing of the surrounding world.
Rustle is on view at Blue Boy, Savannah through November 15, 2025.
