Artist-In-Residence
October 1, 2008 to January 15, 2009
at
Sitka Center for Art and Ecology
www.sitkacenter.org
Art and Ethnobotany: Connections of Plants, People and Place
Ralph Waldo Emerson
described a weed as a "plant whose virtues have not been discovered".
I found this billboard near Des Moines, Iowa and took these photos just a week before I traveled to Oregon to begin my residency at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. This add for a local lawncare company is a funny billboard, a baby horrified at the weeds, the dandelions in his yard, and in a way is how I begin this journey into my art and its link to ethnobotany. Ethnobotany in essence is a study of how people of particular cultures and regions make use of the plants in their local environments.
Almost all parts of a dandelion are edible and quite yummy in my opinion. I am repeatedly frustrated at not being able to find a pesticide-free lawn in which to harvest these beautiful plants.
This billboard advertisement represents a possible perception that I am pushing against, the perception of value and its link to our disconnection to the plants around us and the natural environment in general.
(I have TONS of new images to add....coming in the next few days, so please check back in just a bit)
October 1, 2008 to January 15, 2009
at
Sitka Center for Art and Ecology
www.sitkacenter.org
Art and Ethnobotany: Connections of Plants, People and Place
Ralph Waldo Emersondescribed a weed as a "plant whose virtues have not been discovered".
I found this billboard near Des Moines, Iowa and took these photos just a week before I traveled to Oregon to begin my residency at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology. This add for a local lawncare company is a funny billboard, a baby horrified at the weeds, the dandelions in his yard, and in a way is how I begin this journey into my art and its link to ethnobotany. Ethnobotany in essence is a study of how people of particular cultures and regions make use of the plants in their local environments.
Almost all parts of a dandelion are edible and quite yummy in my opinion. I am repeatedly frustrated at not being able to find a pesticide-free lawn in which to harvest these beautiful plants.
This billboard advertisement represents a possible perception that I am pushing against, the perception of value and its link to our disconnection to the plants around us and the natural environment in general.
(I have TONS of new images to add....coming in the next few days, so please check back in just a bit)
