The Earth Issue 003: Manifesto

the earth issue

Editors' Letter

Editors in Chief

“

LIFT UP YOUR HEADS!”

Maela Ohana Elena Cremona Designer Dipo Kayode-Osi

So concludes “The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism,” F.T Marinetti’s avant-garde guide to plunging headfirst into an uncompromised life, a life fully immersed in art, love, youth, poetry and fearlessness. The art-manifesto, or rather, the art of

Contributors Alex Bateman Alisa Tanaka-King

the manifesto, has served as a prototype for decades of intentionsetting to come; free-flowing back and forth between the creative

Charlotte Ellis

arts and advertising, politics, feminism, and - of late, the absurdist

Chiara Zonca

realms of digital media. A manifesto is prescriptive. It is fervent yet

Christi York

mutant. It can be as stoic or lighthearted as you, the reader, make it

Dennis DeHart

out to be.

Elena Cremona Elizabeth Fleur Willis Ellie Irons

Where better to appropriate the urgent didacticism of the manifesto

Hannah Rowan

than into the complicated and escalating conversation about the

Isabelle Landicho

environmental crisis? Most of us wish we could do something -

Jayne Goldheart Leah Abraham Madeline Cass

something more, but we feel powerless in our individualism and limited by the smallness of our actions. Where do we start? How do

Maela Ohana

fight against the destruction of our environment, in a way which

Maria Montiel

feels sincere and effective? This is where the crippling paradoxes

Marga Karayol

arise, and for many of us, the point at which we lose hope and

Martin Gisborne May Hands Megan Mericle

abandon ship. The manifesto serves as an antithesis to helplessness.

It is, by nature, a roadmap designed for personal use.

Mia Middleton Michaela Altweger

MANIFESTO takes direct inspiration from artists, writers and other

Mira Loew

creatives who have, to one extent or another, authentically aligned

Molly Tucker Nyima Ohana

their environmentalism and their creative practice. It looks at ways

Ofer Gensler

in which day to day actions can be sustainable, joyful, and in-line

Priyanka Shah

with one’s craft.

Sheena Swirlz Simrit Malhi Sophia Nicolov Stanislas Motz Tanya Houghton

We interviewed artists who work with the sustainable production of food, artists who cook, who garden, who bring communities together over foraged meals. Painters who use natural dyes and sculptors who source their materials from the geological landscape.

Cover Image Priyanka Shah

Photographers who push for conservation and biological diversity through the documentation of wild terrains.

Print Enquiries elena@theearthissue.com

In these pages you will also find a tale of a wild community, a bright green bookshelf, and a wardrobe designed to treat our planet with

Web Inquiries elena@theearthissue.com Advertising Enquiries hello@thearchivecollective.com

tenderness.

Elena Cremona & Maela Ohana Printed by Anglia Print Ltd, Unit 5b , Moor Business Park, Ellough Road, Beccles NR34 7TQ. All images published in The Earth Issue are the property of the respective artists and no assumption of ownership is made by this publication. The contents may not be reproduced without explicit permission from The Earth Issue, Archive Collective Magazine, and the respective contributors. © 2019 The Earth Issue | The Archive Collective

Contents Objet TrouvĂŠ

Trails, Maps and Songlines 04

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06. J ourneys Into Nature and Self

62. Molly Tucker

42. Forest-Bathing

78. May Hands

50. Sisters of the Wild

86. Mia Middleton

70. Ellie Irons

94. Marga Karayol 100. Christi York 110. Look Around 112. Sustainable Fashion

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146. Lessons In Living

156 158. H ow An Artist Transformed Her Garden Into Her Creative Studio, And Vice Versa

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From The Earth Issue Bookshelf

128. F orming Creative Communities Around The Dinner Table

Gardens

Food 126

198. Staying With The Trouble

170. A Garden Through The Looking Glass 178. Flora As Installation 186. Four Urban Farmers On The Art Of The Garden

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“I had broken the tether of my earthly connection, my wildness, I’d forgotten how water moved over rocks, how the wind sang and trees talked to one another through intricate mycelium.”

– Jayne Goldheart

Journeys Into Nature and Self: 5 Artists On Travel as a Tool For Radical Connection Words by Leah Abraham

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For many of us, the art of journeying into nature, land and landscape has become seemingly lost to distractions: may they be physical, virtual or emotional. But what if we avert our gaze from our glowing screens, or from that impending to-do list, to allow ourselves to be fully immersed, and absorbed by our vast environment? The language of the land can be felt, heard, expressed, and documented; it is when we surrender ourselves to consciously observing nature that we find ourselves fully present in it.

I spoke to a number of artists whose practices are focused on the idea of “conscious journeying.� They have traversed wild landscapes, revisited once-familiar territories, meticulously planned a voyage or expedition. Their experiences have then been interpreted through the mediums of photography, illustration, graphic, textile, poetry and introspective writing. Nature became their storyteller, and once they found their attention captured, an emotional connection was rekindled.

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earth

8

magic

by Madeline Cass

Foraging for mushrooms, amongst other things, has opened up new portals of knowledge and an ongoing infatuation for Madeline Cass. “As humans, we are constantly reminded of our own mortality by fleeting phenomena. Mayflies, flowers and fungi appear, disappear and reappear again. Spores, the invisible seeds of fungi, grow into dense fibrous root-systems called mycelium. These networks act as a primeval internet, a powerful interface between multiple biological kingdoms. Symbiotically, they bridge life and death. In earth magic, I use photography to explore the cyclical relationship between growth and decay.”

A photographic series that explores the landscape, and sensually invites fascination, curiosity, and an urge to

“Symbiotically, they bridge life and death. In earth magic, I use photography to explore the cyclical relationship between growth and decay.”

touch, earth magic asks the viewer to engage with the idea of their own relationship to mortality and nature.

Made somewhere between California, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington, but mostly Nebraska, Cass’ home state. “I am proud to be a native of the prairie, the Great Plains of the United States. I have learnt to appreciate the Midwest in ways that I wouldn’t if I was just passing through. It makes me want to commit myself to getting to know landscapes very intimately, and to travel slowly and ask questions.”

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“A central part of my practice is to walk

Cass’ series alters our perception of traditional

in wild places (a “saunter” as Thoreau

landscape and green nature, and directs our

would say), which feeds me artistically

gaze into new complex interconnected life-

and spiritually. Observation, meditation,

forms, which may offer new solutions to our

solitude and writing all play important

climate change quandaries. “It is easy to think

roles in the creation of my work.

of the environment as being somewhere far

Sauntering is a way of walking in wild

away, with mountains and waterfalls, yet access

places that is not for scientific inquiry,

to spaces deemed to be “wilderness” often

exercise or any specific outcome except

comes with privilege. I want people to reclaim

nourishment of the soul. It makes space

and engage with their own environments

for intimacy and the contemplation of

in their own modes. New pathways can be

nature.” Embracing this subtle yet mystic

formed to create access in radical ways. In

beauty, evokes a new consciousness for

order for us to protect our environments, we

Cass, a spiritual awakening, “there is a kind

need an emotional connection and a sense of

of ego death - to be immersed into a place

agency with regards to the place we want to

so unknown, so much bigger than oneself,

protect. I hope my work to inspire this kind of

and to be keenly aware and present.”

connection and action.”

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Maria Montiel

Maria Montiel is the Buenos Aires graphic artist and textile designer, whose work is a direct response to natural formations of plants, leaves, animals and botany. Travelling through the familiar landscapes of her hometown and by collecting relics, tracing natural elements and making etchings, Montiel has developed a distinctive style that feels remarkably curious, like the drawings of her inner child. “I love to mix my observations of nature with symbolism, shapes, colour, details, movement and transformation.�

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“I practice yoga, which keeps me present, and I like to draw. I am very observant of textures, light, shadows and especially the small details. My surroundings become my perception and I enjoy that. Nature inspires me to be subtle and observant. To this observation I always try to add something magical or imaginary, either from the conceptual or from the symbolic. Having a process is fundamental for me. Many times I’ve had mental images, thoughts, dreams or things that I see and my first thought always is: ‘this is very tractable!’ When I can, I draw it and if not, I have my notebook of annotations.

I collect my thoughts / dreams / phrases / images, which then serve as resources for when my mind is blank; it is my notebook.

When I manage to have a good time, I’m connected with the drawing, it is a very nice feeling. It becomes about being truly present in the moment.”

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Great Gaia, or Mother Earth, (whichever your heart desires to call her) has innumerous stories that can be reaped from her soil.

London based artist Tanya Houghton’s Songlines of the Here+Now is a testament to this. Richly coloured, mythical landscapes interspersed lead us to subtle trails of modern, urbanised human presence. Its visual narrative of the Urban (Man) becoming part of the Rural (Nature). “I like to immerse myself in the landscape.

By doing so I gather and learn the stories that we as humans imprint onto the landscape, and in return, I capture the stories those landscapes tell about us� explains Houghton. By going for an extended walkabout in the Australian landscape, Houghton traced out the memories preserved in, and on the land.

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Tanya Houghton

Songlines of the Here+Now 19

“Songlines; Ancient Aboriginal maps passed on through song, story or dance. When sung these songs describe landmarks lining the route of a journey. These songlines allow the traveller to navigate their way across vast distances of the Australian landscape. In doing so, these travellers keep the sacred land alive.�

"I camped in the national parks and rented the cheapest car I could, spending all my money on petrol. I drove the whole trip covering 10,500 kilometers in five weeks. I wanted to experience how the landscape changed by moving through it, not flying over it.� Questing alone, allows Houghton to focus on sensory:

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“I researched heavily before I headed out on the trip, looking for sites of significance or natural beauty. I wanted to get as close to nature as possible. The light, smells and sounds play a huge roll in how you perceive a space. I keep a journal when I work - it's a collection of sites and places names, maps and ticket stubs, lists of things I’ve seen or things I want to shoot. I also keep notes of distances covered, towns I stop in and conversations I’ve had along the way. This is crucial.”

The absence of physical interaction, or of any individuals encountered along the way gives the landscape full dominion.

Ultimately, it's Houghton’s surroundings that deliver the song: “It’s interesting to note which sites and smells I remember vividly, and the specificity of dialogues that always ebb from my memory as though the landscape is stealing them back.” Houghton's series pays homage to an indigenous tradition, but reinterprets it through visual mappings: “For me as an artist, it is essential that the work I create starts a dialogue, showing people the beauty of the planet in a hope that something will awaken in them, an urgency to preserve it.”

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Stanislas Motz

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As with most things, individual travel experiences can, and do deviate, and some are more psychologically stirring than others. The Untitled zine by French artist, and photographer Stanislas Motz, is an emotive collection of collages, photography and poetic intonations which reflect a journeying through psychological turmoil. “This particular work was produced during my last trip to Indonesia, between Bali, Nusa Penida and Java. I noticed a deep sadness and melancholia within this nature, burned by the sun and attacked by the salted air of the unending sea�.

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29

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His photo-journal evokes a deep sense of brooding that Motz had been carrying with him. Through his travels he forms a mimetic relationship with the landscape around him: “Before leaving for my solo trip to Indonesia, I was very insecure about myself, and had a preconceived idea that the path my life would follow would be by imitating others. I somehow needed to unlearn this, and try to create my own destiny.” Images captured on the island of Nusa Penida, are imbued with Motz’s poetic ruminations, both handwritten and in typeface. “Nature is music: the singing of the birds, the wind on the trees, I feel like I understand these melodies and am able to capture them in the photographs I take”. With this series, Motz had intended to produce a meditation on loneliness, but his travel experience became rooted to a spiritual awakening: “I had this talk with a local that really inspired me. The Balinese believe that trees are a crucial component of the web of life, they cherish every bit that nature has offered them and give a lot back to it. Maybe it’s a life conception that I never quite understood till then, but that is really helping me today, in understanding who I am and why I am here now.”

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IT DEV

VOURS

“I don’t pick my locations because they are stunningly beautiful, or because of sweeping views and vista points. I do so because I know that when I am there I can feel free.”

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Chiara Zonca

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As subjects to make you, “think, feel and dream”, Canadian photographer Chiara Zonca’s It Devours series of sweeping trees, and lush vegetation not only transports, but also serves to remind us of our relationship to flora and fauna of the remarkable ecosystem.

“I travelled to New Zealand with this idea in mind, and to document the geologically active areas of the North Island and Whakaari, an andesite stratovolcano located 30 miles off the main coast. There, the contrast between lush vegetation and the ever evolving and rumbling earth below felt almost enticing, as if I was the first person exploring a long-lost world I had no knowledge of. What captured my attention was the tropical vegetation which seemed to invade and absorb the open landscape. I enjoyed documenting the contrast between a harsh and typically barren environment and these surrounding lush tropical plants. They seemed to come alive at night especially, when the dusky shades of evening sky would blur into their branches. I felt it was an unusual way to document such an overphotographed country.”

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“The contrast between lush vegetation and the ever-evolving and rumbling earth below felt almost enticing, as if I was the first person exploring a longlost world I had no knowledge of.�

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Zonca captures the natural topography, but alters and enhances, colour-hue and composition so that they appear vast and other worldly. “It is the furthest I had ever been from home. As soon as I landed, I felt a deep sense of unfamiliarity, of excitement and discovery of a long lost world. That is the feeling I tried to portray here, documenting the island’s volcanic presence and interaction with nature. A gentle and a dangerous side coexisting.” As visual mappings, Zonca’s images transcend both time and space, giving way to a sense of hazy and dreaminess. “I don’t pick my locations because they are stunningly beautiful, or because of sweeping views and vista points, I do so because I know that when I am there I can feel free.”

As an artist concerned with the preservation, or safeguarding of these environments, how might Zonca communicate her concerns for the conservation? “I feel that by documenting the feelings and motives behind my work, rather than just promoting a location for tourism, I could help inspire others to enjoy and truly connect with nature and not only see it as a travel destination or a perfect selfie backdrop Ultimately I am hoping this collection will inspire a true sense of mystery and renewed respect for nature and our surroundings which we tend to forget all too often and should instead be re-discovered.” THEEARTHISSUE

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ForestBathing:

How The Presence Of Trees Can Help You Find Health And Happiness

Words By Sophia Nicolov Photography By Elena Cremona & Maela Ohana West-coast nature therapy

beaches and camping beneath trees, I

I spent a summer forest-bathing on the

experienced this for myself.

west coast of British Columbia, Canada, before I knew it had a name and was actively

Living between London and Leeds, two of

practised by people. Four days after my

the most polluted cities in the UK, I noticed

return from this Pacific region, I received

how clear the air and how sharp the light

Qing Li’s Shinrin-Yoku: The Art and Science

was in and around the forests of Vancouver

of Forest-Bathing as a birthday present.

Island. You could smell the air – a mixture of

The timing of this gift couldn’t have been

plant matter, water, soil and other scents I

more perfect. The claustrophobia of London

can’t quite put my finger on. I found myself

felt acute after my time away but this book

mindful and present, hyper-conscious of

provided me with comfort as I yearned for

my own mental wellbeing as well as that of

the towering cedars of Vancouver Island.

the ecosystem I was in at that moment and

Mixing popular science with creativity, Dr

the wider natural world. I was experiencing

Qing Li reinforces the symbiosis between

the interconnectedness of these things. I

humans and trees, compelling us to

felt horror and shock driving past areas

understand that our lives depend on their

that had been deforested; the loss of forest

very existence and proximity. Forest-bathing

cover was a stark contrast to the lush

“I found myself mindful and present, hyper-conscious of my own mental wellbeing as well as that of the ecosystem I was in at that moment and the wider natural world. ”

environments I had been spending time in. It was a harsh reminder of the reality of human over-exploitation. Being exposed to both is sobering but reinforces the need for their protection. With our increasing estrangement from the natural world and a growing awareness of the impacts of this separation on our societal and individual wellbeing, The

has a multitude of benefits and, according to

Art and Science of Forest-Bathing is a timely

Li, it helps alleviate the symptoms of stress,

reminder of the urgent need to preserve

anxiety and depression. It can boost immune

trees and forests.

systems and ‘help us live longer, better and happier lives’. Spending day after day in the

What is forest-bathing?

temperate rainforests of Vancouver Island,

Li has been specialising in forest medicine

hiking trails, relaxing on forest fringed

for two decades and is the President of the

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Japanese Society of Forest Therapy. Shinrin-

yoku (forest-bathing) emerged as an official term in Japan in the 1980s and is a widely recognised practice in this Pacific nation.

Ultimately, Li explains, the health of humans and the health of forests is inextricably intertwined and this is something people have understood for millennia. The doctor notes, ‘We know this deep in our bones. It is like an intuition, or an instinct, a feeling that is sometimes too hard to describe. In Japanese, we have a word for those feelings that are too deep for words: yūgen’. He describes yūgen as giving ‘a profound sense of the beauty and mystery of the universe. It is about this world but suggests something beyond it’. This sums up the feelings inspired by the forests of Vancouver Island – in many ways my experience is beyond description.

This is why it’s so important to experience it for yourself. It’s about physical presence and appreciating the materiality and proximity of trees. Practising forest-bathing speaks to something within us. Forests are affective and I experienced for myself the intensely restorative nature of this practice that Li repeatedly emphasises.

This is not just a book about why forestbathing is important. It is also a guide for the practice. A forest-bath involves the immersion of oneself into nature. As Li writes, it’s about ‘being in nature’ and

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connecting with the trees through all our senses: sight, smell, sound, taste and touch.

Utilising our range of sensory perceptions, forest-bathing involves noticing the colour of the leaves or listening to the ground crunching underfoot. It’s about smelling

world being alleviated. When we’re outside, the multisensory experience allows us to truly appreciate the different colours, forms and smells of the seasons and reconnects our bodies with natural rhythms.

trees, soil and fresh rain, feeling the wind and the rough bark of trees, tasting the air, and seeing the dappled sunshine and clear light. In Annie Proulx’s novel about deforestation, Barkskins (2016), she writes, ‘As he cut, the wildness of the world receded, the vast invisible web of filaments that connected human life to animals, trees to flesh and bones to grass shivered as each tree fell and one by one the web strands snapped.’ When I hear the ripple of the breeze in the trees or animals in the canopy above me, I’m reminded that I’m part of a much larger, complex ecosystem.

City Life Crucially, forest-bathing is not just about distant forests or remote wildernesses.

Li emphasises the importance of urban trees and their preservation. This includes trees in parks and gardens as well as those lining our streets. The author himself doesn’t write from a privileged position of living surrounded by forests but rather he lives in the most densely populated city in the world: Tokyo. He appreciates the nature within the metropolis and encourages us to do the same. The many hours we spend every day looking at our phones, computers and televisions could also be spent outside, close to nature. This could contribute to symptoms associated with our hyper-technological modern lives and our disconnection from the natural

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There are more people living in cities than ever before. As the medical practitioner writes, we are ‘an urban species’. However, by recognising the vital role of forests and trees and by actively reconnecting with nature, ‘the more likely we are to preserve it for the future’. We can each individually maintain and nurture this connection through forest-bathing. I grew up in London and now split my time between there and Leeds so I know how easy it is to neglect the nature that we have in our cities. Since returning from Vancouver Island and reading Qi Ling’s book, I’ve been seeking out what’s around me here and I have a greater appreciation for it. I set time aside every day to go for a walk with my dog in local green spaces and I try to think of these walks as an opportunity to practice forest-bathing.

When you start spending time outside every day, you actively experience the changing of seasons. It’s restorative and grounding. It’s also a dedicated time for reflection.

Preserving the future The final section of this book, ‘Thinking About the Future: The Key to Preserving our Forests for the Future’, is a call to action and a guide on how we might mend our relationship with nature. Li reinforces the urgency of this, declaring,

‘Never has it been more important to maintain and strengthen our relationship with forests’. Li stresses forests’ ecological value, including the vast amount of carbon they store, the range of habitats they provide and the amount of biodiversity contained within them. Li also describes the threats facing them, presenting the reader with alarming information, including the fact that 32 million acres are cut down every year. The Art and Science of ForestBathing is a pressing reminder of why protecting forests is critically important and the urgent need for reforestation globally:

Book recommendations Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (1974) W. S. Merwin, Unchopping a Tree (2014) George Mobiot, Feral: Searching for

Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding (2013) Mary Oliver, White Pine: Poems and Prose

Poems (1994) Annie Proulx, Barkskins (2016) Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854) Peter Wohlleben, The Hidden Life of Trees:

What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries From a Secret World (2016)

‘The key to preserving our forest, wherever it is, is to maintain our connection with it … We will benefit not just from the clean air and water forests provide, the carbon they store, the species they maintain, but also from the peace and quiet they offer, their beauty and vital spirit, and the myriad benefits to our well-being they hold within them.’

Qing Li’s book will undoubtedly make its reader want to go for a forestbath. The practice might help each of us to appreciate not only the great wildernesses we see on our travels, read about and witness in documentaries but also the nature closer to where we carry out our daily lives. THEEARTISSUE

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And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.

- John Muir

Nature, Nurture and Transformation: How One Woman’s Journey

Image courtesy of Sadie Wild

Words By Jayne Goldheart

Towards Healing Brought Together A Wild Community

Image courtesy of Laura Hirch

In the beginning, Sisters of the Wild started

body kept hearing an inner voice asking

as an antidote to my own grief.

me to walk, I had no idea what this meant

until the day I fell down a rabbit hole and

I had just slipped into my 40’s and a feeling of

discovered a new 500 mile route that was to

emptiness fell over me like a dark and heavy

circle the Scottish Highlands. A road for cars

blanket. From an outsider's perspective, you

and cyclists but I knew that my feet needed

could say I was living the dream: a gorgeous

to beat this path. On a whim I booked an

husband, beautiful apartment and a daughter

overnight train, spiriting away to Inverness

that is the light of my life. But so much of it

with no experience and no idea that the next

felt like a prison, the mid-century furniture,

4 weeks were about to change my life.

the Porsche in the driveway, a wardrobe

heaving with treasure, my only respite; a

On day four of the walk I reached the most

vinyl collection that told the story of my life.

majestic mountain I’d ever seen, its road

snaking up like curls of smoke, it was

I had broken the tether of my earthly

unwavering, people drove past and stared

connection, my wildness, I’d forgotten how

at me as I heaved a massive bag on my back,

water moved over rocks, how the wind sang

sweat beading my forehead. It took hours

and trees talked to one another through

to reach the top and in that time my mind

intricate mycelium. The life I was living

worked tirelessly to sabotage every step

was so out of alignment with what my

I took until a flood of inspiration rushed

body craved that I decided to give it all up,

into my thoughts. I had chosen this walk, I

the marriage, the home and my material

was supported by so many people, I wasn’t

possessions, choosing instead to live

walking away from danger or to find food

nomadically.

and water, I was walking to reclaim myself

An initiation is when part of you has to die in order for something else to grow and in hindsight the death of my marriage and the life that had me shut off from the magic of nature was one of the first initiations I would go through on my journey with Sisters of the Wild.

and my relationship with the earth. It was there on that mountain that my grief began to transform itself into something new.

I thought, how could I be the only woman who feels this way? Hungering for reclamation of self and the reawakening of our alliance to the earth. So I made the decision to gather women who recognised the pull of her own wildness, but found modern society quite adept at pressing down so hard on them that they had forgotten it was there at all. Once those

Grief sunk its teeth into me so hard that

thoughts had run their course, the answer

most days I abstracted from the beauty of

was simple; a booming inner voice sang

the world. In the midst of this grieving my

‘Sister of the Wild’.

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Essentially, I started to do this work to feel grounded, to connect with the cycles of nature, and to give women an opportunity to do the same.

As we approach our 7th gathering I’ve started to observe recurring patterns; I’ve noticed women arrive at Sisters of the Wild, often feeling tightly-wound, overwrought from the responsibilities that they have in their lives. The gatherings are a safe container where the women don’t have to feel so much contraction, but rather the ebb and flow of their natural environment.

You can feel them opening up, unlatching their hearts and minds from all the unnecessary cargo they’ve been carrying.

And I always encourage the woman to go to nature to find answers when they are dealing with something no matter what it is. Go and Image courtesy of Laura Hirch

take your shoes off, walk through the grass, feel the dew on your feet, swim in the lake, press your bare skin against a tree. That’s

oak forest, dotted with little cob houses and

when resolution comes, when you’re in your

wooden huts, people have gathered here for

most serene and anchored place. Once

years, their only intention, deep respect for

you deeply allow yourself to be identified

the Earth, and every person who comes here

within nature, there is less need for so much

has a keen sense of guardianship of the place,

structure in your life.

yet we all know we are simply guests.

Cae Mabon, in North Wales wasn’t the

At Cae Mabon if you take away all the

original place to gather, but we are about to

trimmings of Sisters of the Wild, stripping it

have our fifth gathering on that particular

back, you end up with just the land itself, this

piece of land. Cae Mabon was created by the

is the very soul of the gathering, and what

storyteller Eric Maddern over 30 years ago,

the women get the most out of their time; the

there’s a lot of myth in the area of Snowdonia,

lake, the mountains, the wandering creek, the

I think the folklore carries a lot of value

surrounding ancient oak forest. That’s the

given what we do here. Nestled in an ancient

foundation of everything we do.

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I want to create a space with soft edges,

We begin every day fresh and regard

and room for things to shift and fluctuate

the day in its own right. At breakfast,

which is why I don’t plan a schedule.

each morning the women who have

Since, so often we are incarcerated in a

come with skills to share discuss what

lifestyle that doesn't allow for our time

the day might look like; what can be

to be malleable, a schedule selected

done inside and what can be done

by me wouldn’t leave any room for

outdoors, weather depending, how long

trusting the woman to cultivate their

the classes are and how to prepare for

own experience. Instead of the archaic,

them. We then tell the woman eating

hierarchical matrix we are used to, what

breakfast about what we’ve considered

I want is to hold a space that abandons

and because we exist in this harmonious

patriarchal roots, and rejects the

environment, someone might bring

pyramidal mould altogether, and fashion

something up that no one has observed

instead a collaborative space where we

yet and thus the whole is now benefiting

are all in a community, on equal ground.

from the involvement of every part.

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“Embracing my artistic self and sharing skills that have been passed down to me through generations at the Sisters of the Wild Gatherings allows my confidence to grow as an artist. Being amongst the women in nature is very special, a place where you can be completely yourself with no hesitation. The gatherings also plant and nurture creative seeds that enrich my practice deepening my knowledge and love for the materials, weaving the work I do in Wales back into studio life.”

— May Hands, artist and Sisters of the Wild attendee

The lack of schedule, the fluidity of the time

freshwater and there is a sort of childlike-

and space is so foreign to most women that

wonder you see on their faces, rapturously

they have to unfasten many preconceived

gazing at their work, enchanted by what

notions and adjust from the world they’re

they’ve created.

used to in order to access their self-reliance.

Roo Veeren from Tea Clay Love shared clay There have been many skills shared at Sisters

work and at the last gathering where we used

of the Wild. From macrame to movement,

the fire outside to cook the clay and it was

womb work and tea ceremonies...but some

an experiment to see if clay that hadn't fully

stand out as integral parts of the experience

dried would survive the heat. Roo asked the

and foundational aspects of the gathering.

woman to trust the process and surrender

Weaving is one of our focused skills always

their art to the flames, not knowing the

shared by the artist May Hands who comes

outcome just believing that what happens,

from a lineage of weavers, her grandmother

happens. All of these busy-hands-quiet-mind

Maureen has been weaving since she was a

activities leave you with something tangible,

child and is now in her 90’s.

a reminder when you go back home of the

It’s a craft where everyone uses the same

importance of sharing ancestral skills.

techniques, but at the end when you view everyone’s work together you see all the

Then there's fire craft, when women learn to

individual instincts and expressions, women

make fire with their own hands it reminds

often integrate what they’ve found on the

them of their own capability, their self-

land in their work; leaves, twigs, lichen, blades

sufficiency. Fire-making is an ancestral

of grass.

necessity, it is something at one time every human knew how to do, because if you didn’t

Botanical dye is, and has always been a

then you wouldn’t live. And you can see it in

very popular workshop, the process of

a woman’s eyes, in her face, when she has

transforming plain pieces of silk into art that

created a spark that transforms the tinder

breathes and sings through the alchemy of

into flames, she becomes the alchemist, and

plants. It only takes a day to do and at the end

the act of creating something seemingly out

when we all go down to the river to untie our

of nothing has a tremendous effect on a very

bundles the woman dip their silks into the

old part of our spirit.

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Images courtesy of Sadie Wild

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Unnamed (In the Roots) - Finn Isbell & Kelsey Moore

“We are nature, and having the privilege to work with clay helps remind me how much this earth matters. The slow processes; the growing; all the while, developing this relationship to a beautiful natural material. But creating isn’t always or just about technical expertise, for me community is one of the most creative things we can be involved in and Jayne facilitates beautiful ‘sacred’ spaces at Sisters of the Wild that allow those who gather to express themselves freely without judgment and connect to (our) nature in the most beautiful of ways.”

— Roo Vereen, artist and Sisters of the Wild attendee

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The very first gathering was 16 woman in one campsite, one fire that we had to light in the rain, we cooked every meal and boiled all the water on that one fire. It was paramount to keeping everything going, and beautiful because we ended up being around the hearth the whole time, for warmth, for food and for connection. From the original 16 there have been hundreds more who have sat around a Sisters of the Wild fire, and hundreds more to come, I want fire prowess to be one of the many things woman leave the gatherings with.

The dream is to eventually be preservers of our own piece of land. At the moment, we don’t know exactly what that looks like but essentially a community space where vegetables are grown and skills are shared, to welcome artists and makers to take residency there, to stay for a few months at a time, create art, teach what they have to offer with selfsufficiency as the driving impetus, but instead of it being 3 times a year it will be all year round. I may be the vision holder, but it’s a collaborative space, the women who return to the gatherings year after year are going to be integral in having the vision come alive so that we are able to alloy the ancient way of living with the new. THEEARTISSUE

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“Foraging becomes this therapeutic activity, in which I can enter and engage with a space that has been used or abused and left in a state of array. People often overlook the ethereal wonders found in the natural or sometimes regarded as “wild” world. We put this separation between ourselves and the natural world and don’t recognize that we are so heavily connected to, we are a part of a whole. And foraging, for me, brings that interaction and cultivation of connection to life.”

– Molly Tucker

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Re-Crystallization Of Bygone Landscapes: Redefining The Unique & Silent Wonders Of The Earth Words & Photography by Molly TucKer

I consider myself to be working in

The exploration of the geologic isn’t confined

collaboration with the Earth. As a result,

to the most barren or rockiest parts of

there is this visceral interaction and silent

the world. In fact, the geologic is under,

conversation between us. I consider myself

above and all around us. We are constantly

a part of the Earth versus being apart from

weaving ourselves into a 4.5 billion year old

it. That consideration stems from utilizing

interdependent unbreakable relationship

the geologic and the natural as a means of

between geologic and organic life. Even if

producing work. I feel as though I am able to

you, the one reading this, are not consciously

give a voice to the silent minerals that lay at

aware of it, you and the geologic have been

our feet. A great deal of emotion swells up

walking together hand-in-hand since your

in my chest as I integrate myself within the

first breath.

landscape. Sometimes it becomes rather difficult to spit those emotions back into the

Understanding our interconnectedness with

world as recognizable and comprehensible

the Earth is a driving force in my artistic

words. The natural world offers me a clearer

practice and personal life. The separation of

sense of who I am, what I am a part of, why I

self from the rest of nature acknowledges

am a part of it and how I can be a part of it.

that the human is above, which is a false

The simplest of gestures can describe what

position we hold as a species. The seed from

words truly cannot. When I am collaborating

which my own comprehension of being a

with the Earth, we give offerings to one

part of the Earth grew from encounters in the

another; I give her a voice and she gives

environment(s) I dwell in. Growing up at the

me the gift of breathing in union with her

foothills of the Adirondack Park in Saratoga

vibrations.

Springs, NY had a tremendous impact on

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atmosphere that was revealed to me through the crystalline structure of what my body was splayed on. The geology of the Adirondacks is unique as they are composed of Anorthosite; a plagioclase feldspar that is commonly found deep under the Earth’s surface due to the process at which it is formed. Classified as an intrusive igneous rock, it is formed when magma cools slowly beneath the Earth’s surface thus producing large crystal structures apparent to the naked eye. It might seem to be an anomaly that Anorthosite can be seen by the naked eye in the Adirondacks but, with the last ice age, the sediment that had settled above this Anorthosite was carved away by the retreating continental glacier and by alpine glaciers. The Adirondack Park my artistic practice and I often revisit the

is an uplifted dome that is still slowly inching

experiences I’ve had in the Adirondacks.

upwards to this day. The dome itself might be

Specifically, a moment that transpired on

newer but the Anorthosite itself is around 1

a trail up Big Slide Mountain repeats in my

billion years old. A small piece of Anorthosite

mind. The Brothers are a pair of smaller

from that significant hike up Big Slide was

mountains hiked over before reaching the

the first and the oldest specimen of my ever-

summit of Big Slide. I experienced a rebirth

expanding geological collection gathered.

of sorts on The Brothers; a moment of silence washed over me where I found myself

When asked what foraging meant to me,

completely interwoven with the space around

a lot circulated through my mind and

me. That was when I crumbled to the ground,

hands, including that piece of Anorthosite.

overtaken by this conscious meshing of my

Foraging is the act of searching an area for

human experience with the environment.

sustenance; rockhounding is my foraging.

The force of my body collapsing and colliding

Certain geological specimens will catch my

with the bedrock below me was when my

eye as I explore my immediate environment

infatuation with the geologic was born.

and through their silent attraction, individual specimens are contributing to the story I’ve

The ground became more than the ground to

been collecting over the years. Beautiful

me; it became a being that silently revealed

creation stories filled with pressures and heat

the story of life. The bedrock beneath me

at untouchable depths left to cool and solidify.

supported my body reinforcing how critical

These moments create the minerals we

the geologic was in the creation of the

treasure and pursue in society today. Without

world we know now. There was this ancient

the mineral kingdom, life wouldn’t be the

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way it is today; with all of our technological and industrial advances into the capitalist rapid consumer world we live in. I am truly captivated by stone; by the solidity of history and the ancient timeline I stand looking at the mineral world beneath my feet or towering overhead. Knowing that I contribute and am a part of what will be the Anthropocene epoch, along with the new Period or even Era we are entering in the greater geological time scale, the feeling is all the same.

My artistic practice utilizes the act of rockhounding in my immediate environment and the central idea that I am collaborating with the Earth. This collaboration reinforces the ecocentric notion of being a part of a whole versus separate from it. Time, temperature, light and exposure to the elements all affect my photography work, producing unique chemical and geological transformations of the emulsion layers on enlarging photographic papers. For this particular series, Re-crystallization of Bygone

Landscapes, I examined the tailing mounds of Mt. Apatite in Auburn, Maine. The tailing mounds revealed some rather beautiful minerals like Apatite, Muscovite Mica, Albite, Garnets and Maine’s state gemstone Tourmaline (red &/or black at this site). I often find myself drifting towards places like this one in search of geological specimens; examining their textures that seem to unfold time within the palm of my hand.

Time, light and mineralogy all play their part in my beloved medium of photography.

The Lumen printing process has become a critical component of my image making. My photograms examine the forms of discarded geological specimens; the images are singular creations of mineral examination and varying exposure under sunlight in the landscape that

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can not be replicated. The abstract quality of my photographs becomes a shifting microscopic view of geologic forms and the macroscopic effect of the transformations to the surface and atmosphere of the Earth. The mineral impressions expose a moment of transformation which then slowly fades with time. Fixed or unfixed in a chemical bath of sodium thiosulfate, the images will change, some much slower than others, but that just shows the prolonged effects of climate change and the geological transformations our planet is undergoing.

Alluring like sugar on a silver spoon, my work invites the viewer in to reveal it’s not at all sugar. In fact, the silver spoon is full of an unsatisfying taste of salt; the overwhelming realization that the Earth is concealing its transformation from the naked eye.

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What advice would you give young artists who want to start to connect with their environments?

Go outside and just be in the environment you are trying to connect with. The more time you spend there, the more you will understand what you have to offer to that site and what that site has to teach you.

Connecting with the environment can be difficult with the distraction of other people, the internet and modern society encroaching on natural spaces. Within my artistic and personal practices, I find myself meditating to center my energy on the space I am conversing with. And most importantly collect. Collect, cultivate, and observe. Forage only for what is necessary, what speaks to you, don’t be greedy in your foraging habits.

As you begin to collect specimens from the natural world, you begin to cultivate a deeper understanding of the space and how you are connected to it. You begin to realize what you are studying and engaging with the most in a space. For some, it could be mushrooms, others branches of a variety of wood, by the sea, shells; for me personally, it is rock and mineral specimen.

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On connecting with your everyday environment: Connecting with our everyday environment means we are existing within it as a part of it rather than separated from it. It is important to be conscious of the environment you surround yourself, both natural and state of mind. You can then allow your subconscious linger and explore that which becomes inherently significant in your environment.

For me, it was establishing that I exist within the Northeastern corner of the United States.

The ecosystems of New England and New York have influenced my conscious existence and evolution in my everyday interactions within these spaces. What came out of my subconscious was the infinite love and deep relationship I had formed with the geologic. Being in the Burren of County Clare Ireland regenerated a passion to explore and embrace this subconscious relationship I had formed over the years. Since then, I have been engaging with the environment I dwell in at much more deeply rooted and investigative nature. Connecting with our environment begins with stepping out with a mind embracing possibility, a heart open to love and lungs for a breath of fresh air. THEEARTISSUE

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Feral & Invasive Pigments: How Ellie Irons Forages Her Colour Palette From The Urban Botanical Environment Words & Photography by Ellie Irons

“With my personal foraging practice, I mostly forage what other folks think of as weeds, that grow wild and rapidly in response to human disturbance in cities and other human-impacted landscapes. ” On Iron’s creative process:

histories of the plants I work with and, I

Public fieldwork takes many forms, from

teach others how to do the same through

foraging for pigment plants in street verges,

walks and workshops. I’m interested in the

to disrupting lawn monocultures with field

performative nature of this practice. When

ecology experiments. At stake in each of

I’m out in the field collecting pieces of

these endeavours is the remediation of

weedy plants, passersby see me attending

reciprocal relationships between plants,

to the landscape, and are often curious

people, and the habitat we’ve built together

about what I’m doing. Just this act of

and continue to co-engineer. Spontaneous

paying attention to something that is often

urban plants, co-evolved with humans over

overlooked is in a way re-valuing it, and

millennia, are the ideal companion lifeforms

asking others to consider doing the same.

with whom to contemplate contentious issues around nativeness, biodiversity,

Leading tours and workshops is a way for

ecological justice, and the future of

me to share my process with others. This

multispecies thriving in the face of a sixth

has proven to be a powerful way to connect

mass extinction event. Multisensorial work

with urban ecology and build solidarity with

with spontaneous urban plants can provide

the plants we live among. Searching for,

an alternative pathway into environmental

collecting and processing plant parts on an

consciousness. This is a pathway that leads

intimate scale can be revelatory for those

not a yearning nostalgia for pure nature, but

who have overlooked such organisms before,

rather to the realization that humans are part

and deeply pleasurable for those who

of a biocultural mesh, that, while unravelling

already appreciate them. Finally, I create

in alarming ways, is also patching itself back

field guides, publications, instructional

together in delightful and surprising turns.

videos and handbooks to help others

I come from a background in painting and

carry on the practice when I’m not there to

drawing, and while I continue to carry out

facilitate.

studio-based work, much of what I make in this context has collaborative, participatory,

On foraging:

and fieldwork-based roots.

I think of foraging kind of like gleaning, but with some caveats. Gleaning being

When it comes to my Feral and Invasive

collecting and finding a use for overlooked,

Pigments project, I make paintings from

undervalued leftovers—usually perceived

this paint about the biological and cultural

to be of no economic value—from

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human-ecological-biological-systems, like agriculture, manufacturing. These could be living things, but could also be non-living, like aluminum cans. With foraging I tend to think of the materials being collected as

other human-impacted landscapes. Many of

living, and in some cases as goods that are of

these plants respond well to disturbance or

great value, but are hard to find, or take too

interruption from humans, so while it might

much effort to collect for most folks to be

appear that I’m controlling their populations

interested in doing it (like morel mushrooms,

by harvesting them, I don’t really think that’s

for instance). These valuable goods can be at

the case, and that’s not what I’m trying to

risk of over-harvesting, which is where I see

do anyhow. I collect for pleasure and to

one caveat with foraging versus gleaning. The

introduce others to the pleasure of being out

forager collecting from a living system, be

in the landscape and connecting with living

it a city park or so-called wild forest, needs

beings we often overlook.

to be sensitive to the burden (or benefit) their foraging imposes on the life form being

I tend to forage mostly in marginal

foraged. Living things that have evolved

landscapes that are heavily impacted by

in tandem with humans for millennia may

human activity, like brownfields, superfund

be well adapted to being foraged regularly

sites, sidewalk cracks, and other less-

and sustainably (Robin Wall Kimmerer’s

maintained urban infrastructure. Foraging

example of sweetgrass thriving best when

in these landscapes is a way of connecting

regularly foraged by native peoples in the

with nature that often gets overlooked, but

Northeastern US is an example) but others

is very lively and full of ecological flows and

may be at risk of being over-foraged by large

biodiversity and abundance. Helping others

populations of humans, each one of whom

learn to forage in these environments can

might take just a little, but overharvest even

help break down problematic notions about

so. With my personal foraging practice,

what nature should look like and what kinds

I mostly forage what other folks think of

of habitats are worth appreciating and

as weeds, that grow wild and rapidly in

protecting as we face the bottleneck of the

response to human disturbance in cities and

sixth extinction.

For my paint-making process, my interest lies in breaking down notions of what is natural and what kinds of materials are organic. It makes me feel connected to my habitat, sensorially grounded, to know where my materials come from, and to have a hands on role in collecting them, but I also collect bits of decaying plastic alongside collecting plant pigments, and the plants I collect from are often spurned as exotic,

introduced and invasive so not considered natural by many.

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On Invasive and Feral Pigments: Started in 2013, the work is a fieldwork and studio-based project that involves making watercolour paint from the leaves, petals, and berries of spontaneous plants growing in urban areas or places otherwise impacted by human activity. As a means of reducing plant blindness, revealing multispecies entanglements, and emphasizing the migration and proliferation of certain plants alongside humans, this hands-on approach to engaging local ecosystems is flexible across regions and habitats, but also intensely sitespecific. I’ve created palettes in cities from Brooklyn to Taipei, and at a remote biological laboratory in the Rocky Mountains.

Feral and Invasive Pigments is a multilayered project, involving public fieldwork, archival research, local and global products, and an artisanal approach to the production of an industrialized product, artist paint. When I make these paints I mix the globally traded commodity gum arabic with locally harvested plant parts foraged from what, in New York City, I consider the shrinking commons. I use this hybrid mixture to make maps and plant portraits detailing species’ points of origin and spread through contact with humans, alongside pigment diagrams and charts that demonstrate connections, both metaphorical and physical, between plants, pigments and human-designed habitats. THEEARTISSUE

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Words & Artwork by May Hands Photogaphy by Alex Bateman

Onion Skins, Rose Petals & Tumeric

After living in London and away from the coast I began to yearn for the expanse of the horizon and living close to nature. Searching for moments of the natural world in the urban environment, I would feel bursts of excitement when spotting moss on rooftops, wild flowers growing alongside the railway tracks or overgrown abandoned spaces (reserved for building development most likely).

Seasons became more important to me and

consumer rituals and consumption but

I now treat each one as a celebration with

with organic matter too. Both the urban and

elements of ritual. Collecting the natural

natural worlds produce debris and detritus,

debris of each season: blossom in the spring,

which reference memory of place, emotion,

fruits and flowers in summer, leaves and nuts

material qualities, value and cycles. For

in autumn and elegant sparse branches in

example, I have recently begun to look at

the winter, I curate them into my practice and

how the seasonal cycles consume and feed

living environment. I felt a need to deepen my

our environment, our desires, senses and

connection with the natural world and a way

behaviours.

to do this was through creativity.

Studio practice for me is very important, The range of forms found in nature, the

I have a dedicated studio methodology,

strength and fragility, the array of colours and

but I don’t see it only contained within the

tones are a constant source of inspiration

walls of my immediate studio. I make as I

to me. Nature is ever changing, growing,

collect and forage for both man-made and

shedding and reproducing; it is an endless

natural ingredients, which I consider a

cycle that I am forever learning from.

performative aspect of my studio practice.

These collected urban detritus and seasonal

Nature has always been a love of mine but

natural debris I appropriate, to engage with

it had not always been an element within

a compulsion to be connected to the world

my visual arts practice. Until a couple of

as it is now - a societal contextualisation.

years ago the work I made had always been

I am fascinated by their juxtaposition and

inspired by consumer culture and produced

similarities of value and their inherent

with mostly man-made materials. My practice

material qualities, interweaving these

continues to be very much engaged with

materials together through processes.

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When foraging for materials I am not just responding to the visual qualities of what I discover, but the atmosphere and emotion of the place in which I find them. All the materials I use have their own story; I can tell you where each item came from and why I chose it. For all of us, memories are potent within particular objects, and my personal experiences impacts on what catches my eye and senses. For example, I use a lot of flowers in my work, whether it’s imagery or the real thing. Memories as a child were made in parks and my Grandparent’s garden, exploring the flowerbeds, making bouquets, flower-wands, daisy chains, magic potions and collecting flowers for pressing and drawing. There is a sense of nostalgia I suppose, but also a deep admiration and love for these incredible forms of colour and fragrance that continues in the present.

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The use of natural dyes from organic materials in my work is used to distort and soften structures and to conjure emotions of tactility and sensuality. The process I use is one I have taught myself from watching demonstration videos online, reading through books and experimenting.

The method I use is called bundle dyeing; I lay the collected natural materials; such as rose petals, dahlias, eucalyptus and pansies from the garden and turmeric and leftover onion skins from the kitchen, on top of pre-mordant natural fabric. This process has a ritualistic aspect and as I place each petal, leaf or skin, I think about where it has come from, the life it has lived up until this point, grateful for the sunlight, the soil and the water that played its part in the plant’s development and growth.

Once the fabric is covered as I like, it is rolled and/or folded and bundled tightly secured with string (which I continuously re-use). At this point, they look like sculptural forms and each always holds a unique shape.

Next is to steam these humble forms for at least an hour in my makeshift contraption: an enamel pot my mum used to use for paper making when she was my age, and a colander from the kitchen cupboard I gave a new life to after it had steamed beans and carrots for years. Sometimes I use apple cider vinegar to bring out brighter and richer tones, which I do before steaming, as it depends what final effect you intend to produce.

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Once out of the steamer and cooled (if I can wait), I open up the bundles carefully.

It feels like Christmas or a birthday, as you have no idea what the piece will look like as each time it is a surprise. Also, the smell that emanates into the air as I unfold the bundle is fragrant and savoury. I hang the newly adorned fabrics out to dry in the garden and watch them as they dance in the breeze.

This process is chemical free and using what would have otherwise been discarded.

There are countless combinations of mordents and dye matter one could use, each combination resulting in different tones of colour. The mordant not only helps to fix the colour but also to give a duller or brighter tone. I read that ninety per cent of plants will turn out to give a yellow or gold-brown colour. It is not just vegetation that you can naturally dye with as you can use mineral matter, rusted material, earth and even animal matter (cochineal and eucalyptus beetles for example) but I prefer not to use the latter and stick to leftovers and debris for ethical reasons.

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Our consumption of manmade materials,

and we are taking from it and giving back

technologies and careless waste patterns

negatively in landfill sites, climate change,

are having a catastrophic effect on the

toxic chemical pollution, deforestation and

earth. As a civilization are obsessed with

species extinction. This is not acceptable,

‘stuff’ and our environments are saturated

either for the planet or future generations.

with objects. There is an appliance, app,

We are living in what has been given the

tool, or accessory for every activity and

term ‘anthropocene’, which represents the

task, which has lead to technology creating

current geological, chemical and biological

ever-increasing needs. There seems to be

age we inhabit. The Anthropocene is the

a compulsion to be constantly engaged in

period during which human activity has the

consuming, but I question if it is absolutely

most dominant influence on climate and

necessary and if it really satisfies us? A

the environment. What needs to develop is

fast-paced, accessible and instant lifestyle

a collective awareness of the results of our

is what we expect and has become the norm.

actions and an engagement with nature,

Consequently, the earth is being abused by

requiring the teaching of skills to maintain

our demands for technological ‘progress’

and nurture mother earth.

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It is easy to get lost in a whirlwind of panic and worry for the planet, as it feels beyond one’s control and out of our hands. What can one do as an individual? I believe it starts with compassion, in your home, in your community, in making those small changes and in sharing and supporting one another to do the same.

Think how in your everyday routine, societal role, hobby or profession you can act with compassion for the earth.

My role as an artist means I think about the materials I use, making sure all materials are sourced ethically, recycled, using leftovers or second hand whenever practical and possible. Using what is already in existence, as I am making more ‘stuff’ essentially, but it is with materials that were otherwise going to be discarded or recycled. The methods I use employ traditional skills and technologies, and are mostly all done by hand, such as knit, weave, crochet, stitch and print.

When exhibiting my installations, textiles, paintings and sculptures I hope the viewer will

“What can one do as an individual?

I believe it starts with compassion, in your home, in your community, in making those small changes and in sharing and supporting one another to do the same.”

feel invited to step into and explore beneath the different layers, to notice the small details and consider the environments we live within. Then subsequently that they might notice things in their everyday environments they had not before and to be more mindful of their consumption and waste. Ideally,

Books I recommend for natural dyeing:

the artwork will trigger a transformative

‘Dyes From Natural Sources’, Anne Dyer

experience for the viewer. THEEARTISSUE

‘Botanical Inks’, Babs Behan

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Globe Of Granite: Mia Middleton On Creating Cosmologies From Detritus Mia Middleton in conversation with Elizabeth Fleur Willis

Mia Middleton's structural works explore the dichotomous flux between surface and void, material and mineral. In particular, she focuses on the psychogeography of synthetic and utopic environments by breaking apart and re-purposing the virtual and tangible veneers that typify them. The result is a conflation of the domestic, the organic and the fantastic, where multiple spatialities exist in tandem and coagulations in diverse movements of matter and culture converge.

Continuing her transfixion with surfaces and objects that form the physical infrastructure of a place, Globe of Granite is a kind of relational archaeology that takes into account the delicate power balance between consumer culture and the primal landscape that supports it. Mia’s impulse is always to observe and acknowledge these entanglements and create cosmologies from their detritus. For this work, forms collected from public areas were decontextualized and combined with synthetic materials through intimate pairings and manipulations. Rather than situating humanity apart from the earth, the works explore a fused identity that directs awareness to the greater time scales encompassing us in contrast to confining elements of human domesticity.

Elizabeth Fleur Willis: To me, in this body of work, I find there to be a certain tension between ambiguity and direct metaphor within the message that you convey through the choices you make in taking and pairing the objects that you do. Can you tell us what inspires your decision to take an object and create a union with another?

– something wrapped, poked, encased, Mia Middleton: There is a tension; the

contained etc. There are lots of reasons why

friction is what drives the creation of the

I do this: engaging and playing with matter,

work. I’m drawn to these connections and

to exercise some energy and agency into

conduits between disparate elements.

my everyday environment, to investigate

Juxtaposed and fused objects, textures,

what appears as detritus here in this

references – combined by an action which

moment and extrapolate pseudo-narratives,

is often a very clear part of the final work

to feel the joy of materials colliding. But I think this impulse is largely inspired by a desire to break down the edges of things – questioning the way we view matter as a collection of independent objects, and illuminating a continuum of the things in the world. I’m simultaneously very drawn to negative space: tracts of space between works, means the viewer doesn’t feel like they have the full scene before them. That spatial emptiness and unknown is also an integral part of the work.

EFW: Can you pinpoint a certain moment or particular project that started you on your journey on incorporating natural elements into your practice?

MM: I can trace it back to my teen years, incorporating organic matter in my creations was always an innate urge whether it was physically present or represented in some way. It really became an integral component of my practice at art school, especially when I was starting to move towards sculpture and installation and away from photography and

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“I feel a sense of interconnectedness and fluidity. Working with natural forms is like working with the body - familiar and delicate and loving.” video which were my original specialisations.

MM: I feel a sense of interconnectedness

This move in itself was partly due to

and fluidity. Working with natural forms is

my feelings of pure pleasure regarding

like working with the body - familiar and

physicality and materiality.

delicate and loving. I want to be constantly reminded that all living things are born

EFW: Did your practice evolve or change

of the same universal matter, and that

when you started connecting with organic

humans are obviously not removed from this

elements?

confluence. Our lives are so human-centric, I mean we’re obsessed with humans and that

MM: It absolutely has. For me it feels primal,

makes sense! But we’re really part of a vast,

so my creative process seems to flow really

incomprehensibly complex thing here and it’s

naturally now that it is fundamentally

bonkers. I want to get close to that awareness,

incorporated in my work. I remember a time

and I get that when I’m in, or working with

when things weren’t so unencumbered but

natural elements.

working directly with objects and organic forms really enabled that. I love listening

EFW: Is the context of the gallery space

to artists talk about the different ways this

important to this work and if so, how would

‘hook’ so to speak manifests in their own

it change if you displayed these items in a

work - like it might be a certain material or

more natural environment e.g. a forest?

a process that once discovered or invited into the art practice, sort of sets things

MM: The gallery is a really important part

free. I think artists, especially those that

of the work. I’m in love with the gallery in

went to art school, often start out thinking

some morbid way. It’s so devoid of life, like

art making is about gamesmanship and

a sanitised echo-chamber and it seems so

outwitting your opponents. It’s a sad thing

human that we display things in an empty

and there’s undoubtedly some truth to it, but

room. Of course, it’s meant to represent

it's beautiful when people realise that for

a blank slate but it’s definitely not a non-

the most part, it’s genuinely beneficial to just

space. I find it soothing in the same way

follow your bliss through your practice.

an ephemeral film might be. And I find it invigorating in the same way minimalism

EFW: How do you feel when you work with

is. The emptiness between works is an

organic elements and within a natural

important part of my practice. Those

context? Which emotions are evoked?

unknowns are stark in a gallery context and

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I try to reveal them further by exhibiting

I feel like I temporarily sidestep the strategic

things in a format that vaguely represents a

functions of the built environment, or any

domestic space, but one which is sparse and

mental tendencies to focus on constructs

muted, clearly neither a unified installation

outside of the sensory and the momentary,

nor a series of independent works. One of

and I dive into an abstract, inventive and

the reasons the gallery was important to

resourceful mindset. Innocuous debris and

this exhibition is that there are confining

alluring organic matter become portals into

elements to this work – things suspended

vast elemental and cultural systems around

or encased. And many of the materials I’m

us.

drawn to are from an urban or domestic context. The artifice of the gallery plays

EFW.: Did you create your unique process

to these themes well. Having said that, I

autonomously or were you inspired by

have displayed work in the landscape and

help/advice or inspiration from external

I would love to do it again. I did a series

sources?

of performances in a park and created a sculpture series in a forest and both were

MM: There’s an innate autonomy to every

very connected to those environments. This

artist's process which is a part of what

particular body of work interacted with the

it is to be an artist in the first place. But

politics of the gallery space intentionally

nothing happens in a vacuum and I know

– stark and fragmented, yet peaceful and

that despite my distinctive urges to

considered. If I had been making work for

work with certain things, my process has

display in a forest, I doubt this is what would

absolutely been bolstered by research

have manifested.

and guidance. I go through periods when I’m just consuming essays, artist talks and

EFW: What does the word foraging mean to

artworks like its literal food. Usually about

you?

three months before a show it kicks up a notch and I’ll just be pouring over content

MM: Foraging to me is a state of presence and

that contextualises my creative inclinations

vitality. Being aware, attentive, curious and

or just delights me for whatever reason. I

as objective as possible. When I find myself

actually find this time incredibly fun and

foraging, whether in a forest or on a roadside,

absolutely necessary. I think about times I’ve

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done this and the artists I’ve discovered who have helped to give me that push in a certain direction. For me, absorbing the uncanny array of creations out there really boosts my sense of creative freedom, and inspires me endlessly.

Considering how much of the creative process does happen in a very internal, solitary context, I welcome conversation and contextualisation.

EFW.: Do you have any particular books or websites that have inspired or helped you?

MM: There are so many but these are the ones that have really elevated me at key moments

EFW: What advice would you give yourself

over the years:

when you first started out as an artist.

(Have you learned any important lessons

“The Complete Cosmicomics” - Italo Calvino

through trial and error?)

“A Field Guide to Getting Lost” - Rebecca Solnit “The Power of Myth” - Joseph Campbell

MM: Experiment endlessly and go where

“A Moveable Feast” - Ernest Hemmingway

the play/flow is. Explore the work of

“Nausea” - Jean-Paul Satre

other artists, learn about the things you

“The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” - Tom Wolfe

love and make sure you notice the little

“Labyrinths” - Jorge Luis-Borges

things that capture you. Are you drawn to ambient music? Round things? Start

I also have a whole lot of the Whitechapel

there and explore. Being output-driven

‘Documents of Contemporary Art’ series books

means you can’t benefit from the twists

which have been useful. I’m currently obsessed

and turn of your process. The beauty is in

with Manuel De Landa (philosopher) and Peter

the doing. The context/concept is already

Wohlleben (forrester/author) and Caitriona

there whether you know it or not, and

O’Reilly (poet). I trawl art sites a lot too.

sometimes you’ll flesh that out later, not before. Once some of your primal drives are unearthed, don’t be afraid of big feelings and assertions, or simple actions and abstractions. Live and create for those causes and fascinations you hold dear.

EFW: What advice would you give young artists who want to start to connect with their environments?

MM: Pay attention. THEEARTISSUE

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Wild Clay: How Marga Karayol Uses Sculptural Forms To Connect To The Ancient Landscape Marga Karayol in conversation with Elizabeth Fleur Willis Clay Sculptures & Photography by Marga Karayol

Marga Karayol is an interdisciplinary artist living between the mountains and the sea in southwestern Turkey. A self-proclaimed

tactile expressionist, she works primarily with fired and unfired wild clay as a way to experiment with sculptural forms and connect to the ancient landscape that inspires her: “Craving a tactile medium to work with, clay found me. For years, I avoided working with clay out of ignorance. I couldn’t get past thinking of ordinary, mundane objects that I felt lacked imagination so I was turned off. It wasn’t until recently that my attitude towards clay changed when I decided to collect and experiment with it, gathering it by hand from the body of the earth, realizing clay is alive! It radiates energies, old and new, it holds memory, stories of long ago, bits and bones. My intentions are not to make objects that are necessarily defined as ceramics or sculptures but rather to explore and experiment with clay.

To let the clay guide me, shaping forms intuitively by tuning in through touch. By emphasizing movement and gesture, I aspire to illuminate the magic that lives within the clay.’’

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Elizabeth Fleur Willis: You speak about the ephemeral and tactile nature of your practice, could you tell us what ‘Tactile Expressionism’ is?

present and letting go. Documenting my work acts as their own footprint. Sometimes I will return to my work and re-photograph them over time, noticing the changes along the way; what will they look like after the rain has

Marga Karayol: It means to be able to create

washed over them? What will they look like

pieces that I can physically show in an

a year later? Returning and documenting/

exhibition and invite people to touch them.

watching the slow shift and decay is

My work is allowed to be touched, unlike

important to my work.

in the normal gallery setting in which this is prohibited. I think this increases the experience and allows people to connect with the material, to touch what you, the artist, has formed/ touched, but also to leave their own

EFW: How do you emotionally connect with the ephemeral ‘let go’ works versus the permanent objects that you choose to keep?

imprint on what my creation. For me, being tactile is meditative, I like to touch things, to

MK: It depends, I don’t set out and think

get dirty, to connect with the earth. I’m making

to myself ‘’today I will make an ephemeral

ephemeral works because it's spontaneous, it

work’’ or ‘’today I’ll make a wood fired work.’’

goes with however I’m feeling in the moment.

It just naturally happens depending on if I

Regardless of the pieces, or locations in which

like a work and decide I want to make it more

I create, I leave my work behind so that it

permanent. However I have made ephemeral

becomes part of the landscape and goes back

works that I’ve really loved - but letting go is

into the earth - this way, nothing is gained and

a part of life, and making ephemeral work

nothing is lost, and most importantly, nothing

keeps me humble. Keeping too many of my

is wasted. I think its important for artists to

created objects isn’t something I desire,

consider a more sustainable approach to art

so it fuels my work to become ever more

making so we generate less or zero waste and

ephemeral. My wild clay sculptures live,

be conscious of the types of materials we use

breathe, and are now able to return back to

because, where does it all go? Working with

the earth.

Wild Clay is a way for me to connect with nature and to the landscape, while at the same time giving back what I take from the earth, rather than filling my house with ceramics.

This is a way of living in the moment, being

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EFW: Could we compare this process to the cycle of a tree? Sprouting, growing, dropping leaves which become mulch and feed the tree…?

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MK: Exactly. Wild clay is in a natural state, then becomes a sculpture through my hands, but ultimately when left in its own habitat, will return to its natural state, and so add a new layer to the existing landscape. Actually it’s similar to the nature of the earth as a whole, ever shifting, ever changing. This clay that the earth produces is part of that constant shift. The exciting thing is that it can be found anywhere, by anyone! You can find it in your own backyard or in the forest and it is a free material with so many varying colours, textures and qualities. Some feel a little more like plastic, some very muddy... it depends. These are all the things I’ve learnt through experimenting and exploring. To me, it’s a very practicebased process. I never get bored because I’m constantly exploring!

EFW: What inspires the shapes of the sculptures?

MK: The landscape where I live definitely resonates with the objects I make. I am inspired by movements and forms found in nature: the twists and turns of mountains, the shapes of waves, the bodies of caves. Every object I make has gesture and movement so working with wild clay can be very temperamental to work with: it can crack or fall which can be frustrating and yet, I always go with the flow. I am also inspired by ancient ceramics, archaeology and primitive clay made objects. Definitely Eva Hesse, Ana Mendieta and Valentine Schlegel. Living artists include Kiki Smith, Alex Branch, Simone Bodmer-Turner, Heidi Gustafson, Karen Miranda Abel, Taryn Tomasello, Elissa Osterland and Alisha Wessler.

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EFW: To me it seems that by your act of excavating this clay, you’re taking these atoms of history that exist within this soil, broken down over thousands of years and bringing to it new life.

MK: Yes! I'm so excited that you said that.

One day I discovered an old ceramic urn/ pot, in the same spot where I usually source my clay from, all broken up into pieces. I didn’t move it, I just marvelled at it! It was so

“Being able to work with clay that has been around for generations, ancient civilisations, mixing with energies of the past, the winds, the rains, the storms, the earthquakes; all of it comes together in this clay to create an incredible energy which is very inspiring”

fascinating and reminded me that this land is full of treasure. Being able to work with

EFW: What artists inspire you?

clay that has been around for generations, ancient civilisations, mixing with energies of

MK: Definitely Eva Hesse, Ana Mendieta and

the past, the winds, the rains, the storms, the

Valentine Schlegel. Living artists include

earthquakes; all of it comes together in this

Kiki Smith, Alex Branch, Simone Bodmer-

clay to create an incredible energy which is

Turner, Heidi Gustafson, Karen Miranda Abel,

very inspiring. I want to know what intrigued

Taryn Tomasello, Elissa Osterland and Alisha

people to start making clay sculptures in the

Wessler.

first place three thousand years ago! Written language didn’t exist and yet people were

EFW: What advice do you have to artists who

creating these totems and statues... I wonder

wish to be more connected with the earth?

how that came about? Everything began with the earth. Art came from the earth. For

MK: I highly encourage people to explore the

example, the earth provided pigments and

world around them. Go to a forest and see

our human instinct was to use the earth to

what you can find, get down on the ground

create! We walk on it every single day and

and take time to really look at the space, be a

don’t consider the richness of what we have

part of it rather than just taking a stroll. Really

beneath our feet. I feel grateful to live where

spend time looking, observing, touching.

I do and be able to explore the land, to really

Become familiar with what is growing around

spend time connecting with it! I really dig

you. Immerse yourself in water or spend time

deep with my practice here!

near water. Take your studio outside. Finding a place in nature that you can visit regularly

EFW: Literally and metaphorically ‘dig

will energize you and refresh your mind.

deep’?

Experimentation is important too, let yourself explore, try not to be set on a fixed goal and

MK: Haha, right! Totally.

instead just go with the flow. THEEARTISSUE

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Christi York: Weaving The Spirit of A Wild Island Into Contemporary Basketry In conversation with Elizabeth Fleur Willis Photography by Martin Gisborne Christi York uses adapted basket weaving methods mixed with a contemporary approach to create sculptural basketry. Drawn to the overlooked, and inspired by the biological complexity that surrounds us, she invites people to pause and re-consider our recent disconnection with nature. Her work incorporates inspirations from ancient human civilizations, to Victorian era cabinet of curiosities, to ideas from modern ethnobotany and biomimicry. She harvests and processes all of her own natural materials. “The flora and fauna of Vancouver Island are intertwined with the land and its waters. By combing the landscape from mountains to beaches; by identifying and responsibly harvesting seasonal plant material, I am attempting to learn more about my home and to weave the spirit of this wild island into my work.�

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Elizabeth Fleur Willis: Where did your interest in basketry come from?

EFW: What does the word foraging mean to you?

Christi York: My interest in basketry comes,

CY: Currently foraging is synonymous with

in part, from drilling down as deep as you

learning. Learning plant identification

can go into the origin of materials. I gather

means looking at the natural world with new

most of my art materials from renewable

eyeballs. Learning to harvest responsibly,

resources that grow naturally all around

respectfully. Learning more about the

Vancouver Island. That is amazing to me. It

incredible variety and detail of plant life on

also goes hand in hand with drilling down

earth. Learning not to just be a taker, but

into the history of what we think may be

to pause and give thanks to the plants for

humanity’s earliest technology - string

their gifts. In the broader sense, foraging

and rope making using plant fibres. I’m a

also means putting myself out there. I often

huge ethnobotany nerd and those ancient

contact strangers (gardeners) for access to

historical nuggets fill me with wonder and

their yard trimmings, and I’ve actually met a

delight.

few new friends this way.

I find I work best within a self-imposed,

EFW: What is your home environment like? How and where do you go to connect with nature?

narrow discipline, otherwise I can get overwhelmed with artistic choices. Whether I’m using recycled materials, or limiting myself to hand harvested materials, it forces

CY: Up until 3 years ago I lived in downtown

me to get creative and think about how I can

Vancouver for the last 20 years. But now my

use existing materials in several different

husband and I are very fortunate to live on 5

ways. This trash to treasure mentality has

acres about 15 minutes from the closest city.

been with me for years, and is a direct

I get to look out my window into a canopy of

crossover from my former jewellery line to

Arbutus and Gary Oak trees, both of which

the style of basketry I’m interested in.

are native trees that only grown in a fairly limited coastal range here. The Arbutus have

In sculptural basketry, what drives my creative process is partly the material itself, and partly my admiration for the vast, bewilderingly complex network of flora on this planet. I find beauty in the overlooked, the abandoned, the imperfect, the contorted and the wild; the thrust towards the sun, life, and its eventual decay. I like thinking about geological time; the slow pace of nature versus the frantic pace of human society.

Plants don’t care about us. They were around a long time before we came along and they’ll be here long after we’re gone.

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incredible twisty red limbs and I get to forage

find material to turn into art. I love that I don’t

for broken branches after windstorms. I can’t

have to go to the art store (but of course I

wait to start working with them.

still do). I adore seeing really organic shapes and materials out of context inside a home

EFW: Can you pinpoint a certain moment or particular project that started you on your journey of incorporating nature into your practice?

setting, up on a white wall, or set in a corner of the room. I think the more city-based you are, the more important it is to have a little bit of the outdoors inside your home. To me, it evokes a sense of calm.

CY: With absolute precision, yes. About 5 years ago, eco artist Sharon Kallis and the EartHand Gleaners Society in Vancouver were running free programs through the

EFW Has your practice evolved or changed since you started connecting with organic elements?

Vancouver Parks Board. I showed up one afternoon, stepped inside and saw all the

CY: My practice has changed dramatically

dried materials hanging on the walls, the

in four ways: focus, patience, planning and

hanks of long leaves, handmade cordage, the

experimentation.

spiders (as basket starts are called), and the first words out of my mouth were “I think I’ve

Patience:

found my happy place”. That day I was taught

Working with natural materials involves a lot

how to weave a tiny basket out of blackberry

more planning than just popping into the art

bark and lily leaves. I’ve been hooked ever

store. I delight in working with the seasons;

since.

harvesting bark in the spring, willow in the winter, daylily leaves in the late fall. I’m often

EFW: How do you feel when you work with organic elements and within a natural context? Which emotions are evoked?

using material that I’ve gathered and dried the year before.

Planning: It’s often only after soaking and mellowing

CY: Sometimes it feels like trying to tame and

the material that I can begin to weave.

control chaos, especially when I’m making

Sometimes this process needs to start

the larger sculptural pieces. There is a

several days, even a week ahead of time. This

rawness and power inherent in the material

pushes me to research, sketch and plan more

that simply does not come into play with

than I ever have before.

other art materials I’ve worked with. Even in the fine, dainty work there are elements of

Focus:

unpredictability, which I have to work with,

I truly think there are too many choices

and around.

in the world in general (look at the bloody yoghurt section in the grocery store!). I find

I get immense satisfaction from creating

In the past, I created and sold handmade

work out of what was essentially a pile of

accessories and jewellery made out of

sticks and a jumble of vines. It is incredible

vintage and recycled materials - which meant

to me that I can step out my back door and

urban gleaning in thrift stores and vintage

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warehouses. I find this trash to treasure mentality, as well as the focus on only using recycled materials has a direct crossover into the style of basketry I’m interested in.

Experimentation: When you get down the brass tacks, the material cost of the majority of my work is nearly nil. Gathering, drying, sorting, and storing doesn’t cost much more than gas money and a lot of personal labour. Therefore I often feel quite free to experiment with material, and I try not be too precious with it. I think that is invaluable to creating new work.

EFW: Did you create your unique process autonomously or were you inspired by help/advice or inspiration from external sources?

EFW: Do you have any particular artist’s who have inspired you?

CY: Ann Coddington; Sharon Kallis; Joe Hogan; Laura Ellen Bacon; Brian Jungen; Dorothy Gill Barnes; El Anatsui; Andy Goldsworthy.

CY: I have taken several basketry specific classes with nearby teacher and basketmaker Joan Carrigan. In addition, I’m a member of the Northwest Basketry

EFW: Do you have any particular books or websites that have inspired or helped you?

Guild and have attended their weaving retreat every January for the past 3 years.

CY: Basket making is about as old school as it

The wealth of knowledge at an event like

gets, a lot of the older basket makers barely

that is astounding. Never mind the teachers,

have a web presence. That’s why classes and

just sitting and chatting with the ladies who

retreats have been so important. When I first

attend (and it’s 98% ladies) is an education in

started classes (with Joan Carrigan) I had

and of itself.

about a million questions about anything and everything to do with basketry. I hope I didn’t drive her nuts! 5 years later I’m just as curious, and my questions go deeper. When I stumbled upon basketry, I felt I found an artistic discipline I could spend the rest of my life learning about.

I follow a lot of Australian basketmakers/ weavers/artists on Instagram. There seems to be quite a vibrant textile arts scene there which I find very inspiring:

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“Women’s Work; The First 20,000 Years” -

and January 2019 marks my first solo

Elizabeth Wayland Barber

exhibition. Before this I was a graphic

“Braiding Sweetgrass” Robin Wall Kimmerer

designer, a maker, and a jewellery

“The Once and Future World” - JB Mckinnon

designer.

“The Botany of Desire” - Micheal Pollan “Ground Truthing” - Derrick Stacey Denholm

When I was starting out as a jewellery

“Thus Spoke the Plant” - Monica Gagliano

designer I was kind of terrified of the idea of copying other people's work, so much

EFW: What advice would you give yourself when you first started out as an artist. (Have you learned any important lessons through trial and error?)

to the point that I would avoid looking at other jewellery designers work for fear of being influenced. Then I happened to see a technique that I liked, and I deliberately set out to copy the piece in order to learn

CY: At nearly 50 years old, I’m just starting

the technique in the privacy of my own

down this journey of officially being an

studio (as an exercise, not to copy and sell

artist. I’ve just started showing work,

it). Well, by the time the piece went through my brain, my sketchbook, my hands, my materials, and my finishing, it looked completely different! I learned a valuable lesson that day, and I stress less about being influenced by other artists. If you are any good, you come up with your own unique spin on whatever influenced you in the first place.

Probably the most important advice from the business end is: don’t devalue your work and underprice it. A surprising fact I’ve learned over the years is that if someone truly falls in love with your work, often price isn’t as much the deciding factor as you’d think. Do your research, and price your work accordingly.

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“Every single cliché you’ve heard about spending time in nature is true. It recharges your batteries, it’s healthy, both mentally and physically” EFW: What advice would you give young artists who want to start to connect with their environments?

in the room, which is strangely appealing to me. These clubs have all sorts of volunteering gardening opportunities you may not otherwise find out about.

CY: Join a garden club, a local naturist club,

It’s important to note that spending time

or a hiking club. These community clubs

in someone’s lush garden can be just as

are filled with people who have a wealth of

rejuvenating as getting out for a hike in the

knowledge. A lifetime even, in the case of

woods.

elder members.

I’ve also been lucky enough to join a I realize some people aren’t joiners and it can

women-only hiking group where many

be hard to approach a group of strangers and

of the hike-leaders are well into their

just jump in. But getting out of your comfort

70s and 80s. Not only is this inspiring to

zone is one of the most important things you

me on a ‘life-health-goals’ level, but I love

can do in life. It’s where the interesting stuff

the chance to chat with these women

starts to happen.

about the landscapes we pass through as we hike. I can ask “what’s this plant?”

A lot of garden clubs are full of elder, quirky,

and sure enough someone will know the

interesting, down to earth people with an

answer. They also tend to hike at a slower

incredible wealth of knowledge who are often

pace so we can snap the occasional photo

eager to share. Experienced gardeners are

of a spectacular patch of wildflowers or

on the front lines of observing their local

mushrooms. It’s quite a different approach

environment, they can tell you first hand

than a younger hiking group might have. I

how much drier the summers have gotten.

often see zippy people coated in tech gear

I half expected my garden clubs to be all

rushing past us, huffing and puffing with

about roses and rhododendrons, but I was

their eyes on the prize of getting to the

pleasantly surprised that they are interested

end of the hike. No thanks.

in progressive ideas like xeriscaping (drought resistant gardens), and the latest science on

Even if you can’t get out of the city for a

soil microbiology.

hike, make friends with someone who has a big garden. Offering to help someone out

I have been a part of two small town garden

with their garden work will quite literally

clubs now and I’m often the youngest person

connect you to the soil very quickly. In

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return, ask to spend time, undisturbed, with your sketchbook in their garden. Bring a magnifying glass, open your eyes, observe.

Look closely at insects, they are amazing! (But, er, be careful not to burn them with the whole sun/magnifying glass thingy.)

EFW: Why is it important to you to connect with your everyday environment and nature in a broader sense?

CY: Every single cliché you’ve heard about spending time in nature is true. It recharges your batteries, it’s healthy, both mentally and physically, it reconnects you with a rhythm that is not the man-made city-scape. If you are observant, it opens your eyes to the astonishing variety of plant life on earth. Take a glance at the timeline of the evolution of life on the planet - plants have been here a hell of a lot longer than we have. Is it so crazy to think they may have a lot to teach us? THEEARTISSUE

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Look Around Words By Elizabeth Fleur Willis

It is time to open our eyes. It is time to unfurl

incorporate concepts from the enlightened

our fingers like the fern, breathe in deep

foraging fringes into your everyday

the sweet scented air and taste the earth

consideration. Through highlighting the

beneath our feet. It is time to look around

capability of plants, to creating pigments,

and notice the unnoticed, the overlooked

branches to build fine art baskets, and

and the forgotten. Our planet is filled with

found objects to fill the gallery space,

a cornucopia of incredible objects which

ancient traditions and new entrepreneurial

grow under our noses, laid by the wayside,

possibilities regarding our relationship with

dismissed as useless or whose reputations

the physical world around us are illuminated.

are tarnished by negative terms such as

Shining a bright inviting light on the potential

weeds and trash. It is time to challenge the

around you could not only shift your own

entrenched ideas of what is truly useful and

consciousness but hopefully join the growing

desirable, whether practically or aesthetically.

trend toward shifting our engagement with the world around us.

Molly Tucker, Ellie Irons, May Hands, Mia Middleton, Marga Karayol and Christi

At the World Economic Forum 2019, David

York have taken elements of their local

Attenborough said “One thing we all have to

environment and elevated the overlooked,

do, in a way that covers every aspect of our

the unwanted and perhaps even the

life, is simply not to waste. Don’t waste food,

invisible world around them to create deeply

don’t waste plastic, don’t waste power. Live

ritualistic, bold and unique artistic practices.

within our means without inflicting damage on the planet. This is a possibility and that is

I myself, have dedicated my own practice

what we should all be aiming at”

and writing to raising awareness for the beauty of nature and by extension, to disrupt

If we choose to make decisions in our own

the complacent consciousness in society

lives that minimise wastage, for example,

regarding it. As you will have seen in the

foraging local herbs and greens or growing

previous pages, I have chosen to focus on

our own, rather than buying and supporting

artists who share this common goal, and

unsustainable super farmed produce, we

through extraordinary means, have found

can set a base for leading a less wasteful

practical ways to introduce this into their

existence. Once we have this base, by

methodology. Through the discovery of

extending this lifestyle, we can start to look at

these women’s innovative ideas, thrilling

every element of our lives and make changes

experimental methods and vibrant output,

on many levels. We could take the waste of

I hope that I can inspire you to similarly

the world and upcycle it, repurpose it and

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elevate these objects to become beautiful

fashion; whose often forgotten origins are

and/or useful. Mia Middleton takes discarded

invoked through textile production process

items and sets them within the white walls of

shown by May Hands. Similarly, the ceramic

the gallery space, giving these found objects

industry’s history is conjured up from the

a new life away from their discarded wasteful

depths of the earth through the use of wild

past, imbued with a deep discourse and higher

hand sculpted clay, ritualistically created by

intention for thought provocation.

Marga Karayol. These works remind us of the legacy behind household objects, which,

We could take wild elements from our

in western culture have been superseded

surroundings and create intricate works

by shops such as Ikea and Primark.

like those of Christi York, who challenges us to consider the complexity of the natural

Across all of these artists, the overarching

world through the form of a basket, a useful

similarity between their practices is their

tool known to all, now repurposed to create

conveyance of the emotional connection

a change of perspective on its viewers when

that has been encouraged toward their

presented in the Fine Art context. The creation

relationship with the earth through their

of thoughtful dialogue with items available to

unique art forms. Connecting with the

all, either on city streets, in gardens or forests

spirits of the soil through Karayol’s work, or

is an option for everyone. It is time to open

exploring the richness of colour pigments

our eyes and stop looking directly at our

through using natural materials shown

feet as we walk this planet, but instead start

by Ellie Irons work creates a jubilant and

looking around our feet. Daily discoveries

joyful feeling for me which I hope to have

are all around us. Similar to these women,

shared with you. I see the process of Molly

we have a chance to engage and build an

Tucker, who by taking geological specimens

emotional connection to the planet, breaking

and marvelling at their unique and silent

the routines supported by consumerist

qualities, finds magic in the unnoticed or

practices, conventional convenience and

invisible. Because of this, I am reminded of

societal systems which have so far done great

my childhood’s curiosity and wonderment

damage to our ecosystems and indigenous

at the world we inhabit and, as an adult, I

environments. It is important to remember the

am truly grateful to connect with not only

forgotten; the ancient traditions, our cultural

myself in a deeper way, but also to the

heritage and methods of production used by

magical world around me.

our foremothers and forefathers. It should be everyone’s goal to overcome complacency

It is time to open our eyes and see what is

toward entrenched domestic systems, such as

waiting patiently to be found. THEEARTISSUE

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How To Have An Ethical Wardrobe And Not Look Like The Kid From About A Boy Words By Isabelle Landicho Photography By Charlotte Eliis

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We are all exposed to the consequences of climate change: death of coral reefs, Arctic sea ice loss, biodiversity loss, more heatwaves, heavy rainfall - and its threats feel more potent than ever. What many might not be aware of, is that the fashion industry is one of the most environmentally damaging industries globally, and an urgent transition is required to limit its effects. Isabelle Landicho, London based Stylist and Art Director, as

In 2015 the production of polyester released

well as The Earth Issue’s Fashion &Lifestyle

706 billion kg of greenhouse gases, the

Editor, champions diversity, green fashion

equivalent of 185 coal- fired power plant’s

and creates beautiful imagery combining the

annual emissions. It takes 2,7000 litres of

two. Sharing her story in how her interest in

water – what one person drinks in two and

green fashion started, she provides useful

a half years- to produce a single cotton

tips on how to shop consciously, and reduce

t- shirt. In 2013, 1,021 garment workers were

your impact on the world without having to

unjustly killed in the Rana Plaza disaster due

compromise your sense of style:

to hazardous working conditions even after health and safety concerns from the victims.

My journey began after converting to a plant

What many people don’t realise is that the

- based diet for political reasons a couple

seeming bargain they picked up on the high

of years ago. I couldn’t hold such strong

street comes with a hefty price tag.

environmental values in regards to my diet, yet overlook the problems that lie within

It’s easy for us to disparage and have the

the fashion industry - especially since I

notion that a single person cannot affect

directly contributed to it. I started to educate

change, but if every person decided

myself; I read books like To Die For by Lucy

to demand more responsibility and

Siegle, I watched documentaries such as The

transparency from our retailers just imagine

True Cost, I attended talks and formed my

what could transpire. Green fashion brings

opinion about it all. The issue was personal

to mind a certain aesthetic, albeit not a very

for me too. I grew up in the Philippines and

glamorous one. But at the end of the day

I identify with the struggles of the people of

styling oneself is an act of self- expression

a developing nation - it could’ve been me

and self- love. Now more than ever are

who was exploited, or a sister or a cousin.

masses of alternatives to fast fashion brands

I couldn’t feign ignorance and continue

and some of them indeed very glamorous.

contributing to the fast- fashion epidemic, so I decided to act on it.

Here is my guide on how to have an ethical wardrobe. Some of these are small things anyone can do, start with one or two adjustments, and maybe you will find that gradually you’ll want to make more green lifestyle choices. The smallest change can give way to the biggest of impacts.

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Repair your clothes This is one of my easiest and cheapest ethical fashion tips. 60% of all clothing produced ends up in incinerators or landfills within a of clothing that I love, instead of discarding

Buy second hand

these pieces that have served me so well I

Doubling the life of clothing from one to two

feel I owe it to the clothes to repair them. My

years reduces emissions over the year by

favourite tailor is Mr Moustache Tailoring on

24%, as does buying second hand clothes.

Kingsland Road (London). He once told me

There are so many options of buying pre-

he is a professor and upon receiving back

loved clothing that go beyond the guise of

a bag of trousers that were all too big and

vintage, you can buy anything from high

now fit me perfectly I am inclined to believe

street brand clothes to luxury items if you

him.

know where to look.

It’s also very easy to mend your own clothes.

Frequent your local charity shops or go on

You don’t need to own a sewing machine or be

an excursion with friends to fancy parts of

the most technically skilled, it just takes time

London (or wherever you are based) and

and effort. Look up tutorials on YouTube for

scout the charity shops there- fancy people

trickier sewing processes, dye faded items,

often donate fancy clothes. If vintage fashion

sew darts on bottoms that are too big on the

is your thing, there are great shops in Central

waist yet loose round the bum, take shoes

London like Rokit, Wow Retro, Vintage

to the cobbler, even the small things like

Showroom and Beyond Retro. Alternatively,

darning old socks makes a difference.

there are great sites online beyond the usual

year of being made. I have well-worn items

yet still commendable eBay, Depop and Etsy.

Vestiaire Collective is my destination of choice for second hand designer goods, each item has to be thoroughly inspected before sold to approve its authenticity and quality.

Rebelle adheres to the same guidelines, and Hardly Ever Worn It has a handy Kids section.

Cult website Grailed offers the latest in men’s fashion and streetwear, it’s pretty much made for you if you are of those people who queues up to buy trainers.

A friend of mine hosted a clothes swap party recently, which are a fun and resourceful way to exchange your pre- loved items for other people’s treasures. My friend and ethical fashion consultant Emma Slade-Edmondson has hosted many clothes swap events in the past, look for one near you or hold your own!

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Clothes banks

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Shop smart and demand more

the brand to give positive feedback, urge

I am a believer that we as consumers hold

between consumer and company.

more power than we give ourselves credit without demand, Adidas and G-Star RAW

Buy from ethical designers

have developed apparel made from ocean

By making educated choices that align with

plastic, with Adidas selling over a million

our ethics, we can bring about positive social

from its Parley range in 2017. With this

and environmental change. Public interest

said, brands are quick to cash in under

in mindful living has led to an increasing

for, brands would be unable to make profit

them to do better, or to ask a question which makes for easy and much needed dialogue

the pretence of

number of socially

sustainability but

conscious businesses,

these initiatives are

each of them with their

ethical only at surface

own set of morals and

level- this is called

ideals. By supporting

greenwashing.

these companies, we

Just because a swing

are not only purchasing

tag reads 100% cotton

a great product but

doesn’t make it ethical

doing our part for the

or even sustainable;

planet and its people.

in fact cotton is one of the thirstiest crops on

At times people are

the planet. Nor does a

deterred by the price

piece of upcycled or

of ethical fashion; some

repurposed clothing

garments are indeed

mean that the garment

pricier than their high

worker who made it was

street counterparts,

paid a fair wage. Fashion

but don’t forget: better

Revolution is a global

quality materials

movement demanding

equate to longer lasting

companies for radical

products that are more

transparency with their

value for your money

hashtag #whomademyclothes?

in the long run. It’s an added bonus if these materials are not made at the cost of our

Do your research before you invest in

earth, oceans and animals. Personally, I would

something. My go-to shopping aid is the

rather spend a bit more money on a top if it

extremely user friendly, Good on You app.

means that the people who made it are paid

You can search the brand and the app gives

fairly and work in safe conditions. We often

you a rating out of five along with a short

forget that the people making our clothes are

evaluation, suggesting similar, yet more

individuals, like you and I; people with lives,

ethical brand alternatives. There is also an

families, friends, dreams and ambitions- let's

option at the end of the page for you to e-mail

use our privilege to honour and respect this.

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1 Piece of Clothing

Multiple Outfits

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Here are some of my favourite green fashion brands: Everlane American brand Everlane is your go-to for great quality basic items to build a capsule wardrobe - one of my most favoured labels.

With a focus on radical transparency, they “reveal the true costs behind all products, from materials to labour to transportation.”

Everlane also meticulously evaluates their factories to ensure their garment workers have fair wages, reasonable hours and a safe working environment. They ship worldwide on orders over $100, but if you’re buying from the UK be wary of the additional tax.

I recommend doing a big order at the start of every season to update your wardrobe (if it needs it!) and sharing your order with a friend to reduce shipping and tax costs. https://www.everlane.com/

Know the Origin Know the Origin is an independent British brand that was rated in 2018 by Ethical Consumer as their number one most ethical company which is no mean feat. As well as selling their in- house line, they also feature a variety of ethical brands from eco-soy candles to cork accessories. They seem to have thought of every process in the supply chain and ensured it is as ethical as can be for people, our planet and made for a purpose: “We pride ourselves in being the most transparent, right down to pictures and images of that product being made in the factory, then listing all of our supply chain: the farms, jinners, the spinners we work with, the knitters, the dyers. We work with a zerowaste dyeing unit in India, and just always look for producers that are doing things differently and share our value”. https://knowtheorigin.com/

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Elliss In an online interview with The Earth Issue, London-based brand Elliss states that all their products are manufactured in the same building where they design, using organic and recycled materials, “All packaging is recycled, from the hangtags to the tissue paper and envelopes the orders are sent out in.” The brand distributes their online orders from their studio in Hackney and sell to a select few shops globally. Elliss (on her namesake label) contemplates, “I try and make conscious decisions all the time, from the tape I buy to seal the boxes to the clothes themselves. It is a natural process for me as I don’t like to be wasteful.” As well

Rêve En Vert

as being a conscious brand, they provide

Rêve En Vert is an online retailer that

us with beautiful, interesting clothes and

champions sustainable luxury and hold their

undergarments with sophisticated shapes

designers to four tenants: “organic, re-made,

and a slight noughties aesthetic.

local and fair.” Their ethos reads that they demand “quality style made from a place

https://www.elliss.co.uk/

of consciousness... committed to driving awareness of how consumers think about the fashion industry, exclusively featuring designers who operate their businesses with respect for people and the planet.” What’s special about this brand is that they feature extensive high-end product lines that range from conscious beauty to ethical homeware, and is exemplary proof that eco fashion is beautiful, luxurious and indeed covetable. https://reve-en-vert.com

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What’s your Legacy Not technically a fashion brand- but I swear on What’s your Legacy's ethical fashion and beauty directory. What’s your Legacy is “an online platform exploring sustainability and innovation in fashion industry”. They are committed to curating the best green labels and interview designers, create editorials and offer consultations on how companies can be more sustainable. The directory is separated in different categories like eyewear, bridal and high to low price range, meaning there’s something for everyone. Once a brand is selected it takes you to a page with a brief description of their ideals and informs you of their sustainability labels: i.e. if a brand uses “low impact synthetic dyes” or if they use “organic, GOTS certified cotton”. What’s your Legacy is a site that is fun, pleasing to the eye and extremely detailed- not to mention its run entirely by women. If you’re looking to start your venture into ethical fashion I highly suggest you start with this website. https://wylstore.com/ THEEARTISSUE

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“Art. Food. Sustainability. I think these three things are all related, and very difficult to separate” – Alisa Tanaka-King

“Foremost, we have the Power of the Consumer. Support local and small – something that tells you where, how, or by whom your product was made.”

– Simrit Malhi

Forming Creative Communities Around The Dinner Table: F.O.C.U.S, Alisa Tanaka-King “I think the most important one has been that people are craving community. Everyone suffers from loneliness, and we cannot ever underestimate the importance of bringing people together over a meal. It’s that simple - invite someone to the table, the rest takes care of itself.�

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On a summer evening on Sørøya Island, on the

dishes. Dishes are brought out at a calculated

far northern tip of Norway, a group of ten have

tempo, which paces the dining experience and

gathered for a curious dinner. One by one

helps the host curate and shape the dialogue

they are seated at a narrow, candle-lit table,

in-between courses. Alisa shares stories,

set with inventive serving vessels fashioned

poses questions, extends observations, and

out of weathered stones and shells from the

invites responses from the diners. The forces

Island’s coastline. As the night progresses the

underlying the dinner are laid bare for the

guests are presented with a five-course feast

participants to examine - the role of host and

- a Japanese-inflected omakase, prepared

guest, the provenance of our food, the process

with ingredients foraged from the landscape

of conversation, and the power of cooking to

surrounding La Wayaka Current art residency:

provide care and intimacy within a fixed or

meadowsweet, cloudberries, rhubarb, and

fluid community.

wild greens. Prompts and stories guide the

conversation, from ice-breaking personal

But F.O.C.U.S reaches beyond the scope of the

anecdotes to broader topics touching on

meal itself: in preparation of these events,

climate change, the refugee crisis, privilege

Alisa also spends time with local community,

and social justice. For a few magical hours a

liaising with indigenous communities

special bond is created - a meeting of hearts

where possible, and working directly with

and minds that will forever remain connected

local producers to source ingredients. The

by this intimate experience.

materials used are grounded in a site-specific

exploration of land, resources and natural

Japanese-Australian artist Alisa Tanaka-King

ecology. Local, seasonal ingredients are

describes her multisensorial project as such:

showcased, with great importance placed on

“F.O.C.U.S is an invitation to be part of a

balance and environmental sustainability.

transient community. A conversation.

A journey of food, a sharing of stories,

As a child, Alisa fell in love with the magic

a connecting of dots. It is a conceptual

of cooking - the alchemical process of

art project that takes place all over

transforming ingredients into something

the world, inviting people to share in a

beautiful and nourishing. “Initially, cooking

dining and conversation experience that

was not part of my art practice at all. I hosted

embodies social creative practice and

regular events -we called them ‘feasts,’ for

sustainability.”

friends and family, that were purely for the joy

of cooking, feeding people, and sharing food.”

Like most of Alisa’s other artistic work,

Later, her interest extended into traditional

F.O.C.U.S cannot be contained by a single

culinary ceremonies - such as Kaiseki and

genre. It is fluid in style and in form,

Japanese tea ceremony, which eventually

combining live performance, storytelling and

formed the meta-structure of F.O.C.U.S. Her

installation, with a pinch of social experiment.

time spent in Japan - first as a child and later

The dinner is structurally informed by

as an artist, sharpened her sensitivity to the

traditional Japanese haute cuisine, Kaiseki - a

balanced aesthetics of ceremonial dining, and

culinary art form that marries taste, texture

also to its potential for cultivating meaningful

and appearance within a sequence of small

community experiences.

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Community building at the dinner table A F.O.C.U.S event aims to spark intimate connections between people who may have otherwise never crossed paths. “By sitting at a table with people from different walks of life, your perspective will always be changed if only slightly.”

Being a geographically transplantable project, usually hosted at residencies and research trips in unusual or remote areas, F.O.C.U.S has put Alisa in contact with a vast, multicultural network around the world. “Rather than being a tourist, or even an artist working just within the art network, I am suddenly connected very rapidly and deeply with a place and its people in a way that I never have been before.” Working at the intersection of people, art and food has cemented her interest in socially engaged practice, using her creative practice to better understand, communicate and document global issues.

Each dinner is accompanied by a discussion of the main issues we face as a global society: climate change, political unrest and the refugee crisis. “These conversations usually result in stories of surprising connections, unprecedented acts of kindness and generosity, and the general consensus that we should strive to do this more as a community.”

“Everyone understands the ritual, no matter what your cultural or generational background. A dining table is a place where conversations naturally occur, people feel comfortable, they can look across and address each other without feeling awkward. It is the perfect stage/ frame/canvas for an artwork that asks people to share their stories.”

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To Alisa, food and the preparation of food is the answer to so many of our societal problems. Take, for example, the concept of fusion food - a perfect embodiment of globalization and social evolution. As the child of cross-cultural parents, the idea of food representing a cultural melting pot hits a tender spot. “The sharing of food, the fusing of ingredients, the combining of cooking techniques is the most gentle, generous and magical start to paving the way for social cohesion. What better way to appreciate, respect, and be introduced to someone else’s culture than through their cuisine?”

But above all other dinner-time conversation topics, Alisa is struck by the universality of our human experience of isolation, across places and cultures: “Without a doubt, the constant that comes out of the dinner conversations is the experience of incredible loneliness that we suffer, and the importance of generosity and kindness. We talk a lot about lack of connection.”

Besides the F.O.C.U.S project Alisa coordinates the Community Arts & Wellbeing Program at Ballarat Community Health in Victoria which connects community members and promotes wellbeing through creative activities. There, she helps run art and

chronic illnesses and the elderly. “This role

drama workshops, education programs, and

has become an integral part of my solo

creative support groups for a wide range of

practice, influencing my work hugely, and

clientele including - mental health clients,

ultimately leading me to pursue a practice

drug and alcohol rehabilitation and support,

of art for social change. I believe community

trauma clients, migrant and refugee clients,

is essential in our survival - emotionally,

people with disabilities, people living with

environmentally, and economically.”

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To Alisa, art exists first and foremost to

markets, and foragers.” By attending these

help us communicate and address things

dinners, participants are able to tap into local

that are of relevance to our community.

resources that they would not otherwise have

“Food is a perfect tool in this endeavour,

known about.

as it automatically brings people together

and starts conversations. Finally, I see

Where possible Alisa forages for ingredients,

sustainability in two parts - emotional and

as this is usually the most environmentally

environmental - and I believe they are equally

sustainable way to access food. “I have

important.”

also previously used excess or unwanted

produce from farmers and producers that

F.O.C.U.S addresses the importance of each of

would otherwise go to waste. For ingredients

these topics, in form and in practice. it invites

that I need to purchase, I make sure they

people to share food, an age-old tradition that

are seasonal, and where possible, locally

strengthens communities, provides support,

sourced. The knowledge of foraging has been

and enhances intimacy.

incredibly interesting. I try to connect with a

local forager at every location, and I am blown

It also creates connections between people

away by the amount I learn from them.” Alisa

and their local agricultural landscape - “It

also researches the ingredients she uses in

is astounding how little people know about

her cooking, to ensure that the farming or

local producers, community gardens, farmers’

producing practices being used are ethical

“Art. Food.

Sustainability.

I think these three things are all related, and very difficult to separate.”

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and responsible - this particularly applies to fish, meat, eggs and dairy.

The guests of a F.O.C.U.S event are given information about all the food they are served, where it comes from and how to access it themselves. Invitees are given practical tips, and are also encouraged to support local businesses that support and sustain the economy. “I think education and accessibility are the main factors, and I think they are the factors where, as a society, we often fail. One of the most interesting conversations that has arisen from a F.O.C.U.S event was around the privilege of time. If we are born into privilege, or somehow acquire it throughout our lives, it becomes much easier to be environmentally responsible. We can afford to buy more expensive produce, we have time to plant, grow, forage, visit farms, and so forth.

Unfortunately for many people, sustainable food choices are too financially or logistically difficult to achieve in day to day life. I believe that it is the responsibility of those who are privileged to help make a change in consumerism, supporting the local economy, and being environmentally conscious. I also believe that a huge responsibility lies on the government’s shoulders, and unfortunately, across the

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globe we see the bare minimum being done. Governments should be ensuring that environmentally sustainable food production and consumption is prioritised, and sustainable choices are accessible to everyone in the community, no matter what their situation is.”

True to its mission, F.O.C.U.S is also a zerowaste project. After the first few events, it became clear to Alisa that there would be large amounts of leftovers. “The nature of Kaiseki means that you are serving tiny portions of things, presented beautifully to awaken all the senses. This, unfortunately, means that you make more than you need.

After several events where friends or fellow residency artists ended up eating the leftovers, I decided to make a thing of it - and so, For The Love of Leftovers was born.

It is a casual feast open to anyone that takes place a day or two after a F.O.C.U.S event. Laid out buffet-style, we eat until it is all gone. Everyone is invited, there are no bookings, it is marked “pay - as-youfeel, pay-as-you-can”. Generally the people who attend are those who were at F.O.C.U.S events, who have brought friends along, sometimes attendants are just passing by and happen to stop. Needless to say, there is no waste, and once again, we gather, connect and share stories - although this time it is not curated at all. Done”

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Next Steps: So far, Alisa has taken F.O.C.U.S to Norway, Chile, Finland and the UK now - the next location is open to invitation. She also hopes to exhibit the journals and research books she makess during the planning of her meals, which include field notes, recipes, and reflective writing from the F.O.C.U.S event conversations.

“For me, recording notes from each F.O.C.U.S location is essential. I see it as a form of mapping - mapping towns and cities, mapping ingredients, mapping people and stories. At this stage, only people who attend the event have the opportunity to receive one of the books from their location. I keep one from each location in my collection, so I have an encyclopaedia of sorts, a collection of places, people, and notes I have made along the way. I hope to exhibit these books at some stage, and possibly produce a book of highlights from the various locations that is available for people to purchase.”

F.O.C.U.S has taught Alisa invaluable lessons about people, places and food. “I think the most important one has been that people are craving community. Everyone suffers from loneliness, and we cannot ever underestimate the importance of bringing people together over a meal. It’s that simple - invite someone to the table, the rest takes care of itself.”

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How would a typical F.O.C.U.S dinner unfold?

Step One: The preparation Generally, the guests invited to a F.O.C.U.S dinner are determined by some pre-existing connection - for example, participants in a residency program or exhibition at which Alisa has been invited to showcase her project. As such, there is no typical guest to attends these events. Alisa has, so far, brought together artists, local producers, refugees, children, homeless people, and even Mongolian camel herders to attend F.O.C.U.S.

“The week prior to a F.O.C.U.S event, I spend time in the local community meeting producers, farmers and foragers who can provide information about local ingredients and dishes. These conversations inevitably give me some information about the local area, and this begins to shape the stories and questions I share at the table. The

Step Two: The ceremony

connections made during this “research”

Prior to the event, a FOCUS guest would be

time usually result in some, if not all of the

given a meeting spot close by - often a bar

producers attending the event. They invite

or cafe - some sort of comfortable waiting

friends, and word of mouth does the rest.”

place.

“As the host, I come and meet you at this waiting area. I introduce myself, and encourage the audience members to do the same. I then explain the process of the meal, what to expect, let you know that you are encouraged to speak and participate when invited to do so, ask you to please respect one another throughout the evening. I explain that the event usually runs for approximately 1.5-2 hours and that there is a clear ending to the evening.”

Guests then arrive at the event location and take a seat at the table.

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And so its begins.

• First course: a drink (usually alcoholic and

During these courses, Alise curates the

featuring something local) & a tiny amuse-

conversation, using the different dishes as

bouche style bite-sized starter;

landing points for stories and questions.

• Second course: Traditionally sashimi,

whatever local ingredient I find to replace

As she clears dessert, she wraps up the

this is served raw;

event with a specific ending - sometimes

• Third course: Some sort of very small soup sometimes hot, sometimes cold; • Fourth course: Something grilled, often served with something pickled; • Fifth course (main set): Something steamed,

this is a piece of music, sometimes a poem, sometimes a story.

She thanks the audience and invites them to gather back at the original meeting place

some sort of rice or carbohydrate side,

for a post-dinner drink. “I find that people

pickles;

often want to stay back afterwards and talk

• Sixth course: dessert;

about the experience, so it is good to have

• Sometimes there is an extra course in

somewhere away from the table to gather in

there featuring something fried, or a palette cleanser.

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a more casual manner.

Tips For Launching a F.O.C.U.S Style Dinner in Your Community?

F.O.C.U.S is a great satellite project that can complement all sort of events, as well as holding its own. It lends itself to festivals and community events, while also activating spaces in a different way. It invites and appeals to a wide range of people who would not otherwise engage with arts projects/exhibitions/festivals, and provides an even playing field for everyone at the table.

• Have a clear plan: why are you doing this? what are you hoping to achieve?

• Know that you don’t have to change the world with your project. It can be as simple as activating a space, feeding people, or using up leftovers • Do a trial of your event before you launch into something huge. You will learn important lessons from a trial

e

• Do your research - make sure you are connecting with as many local resources and partners as possible.

This will make your life so much easier!

• Be prepared to be flexible, the best things come from the unexpected • Take time. Take time reflect, rest, evaluate and listen to people’s feedback • Be open - open ears, open heart, open mind. If you have decided what your community or audience is going to say or do before you begin, you are setting yourself up to fail

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Alisa’s Notes on Curating a Culinary Art Event The curation can be tricky, and there are

attendees are at any given seating.

a number of things that are put in place to

More than 10 at the table means that

ensure everyone can participate as much or

conversation splits, it is difficult to hear

as little as they wish.

everyone, and it is difficult to focus (pardon the pun…)

Firstly, the multi-course nature of the meal

means that there are practical breaks in the

At some locations where I have run a

conversation. With each course I serve, I

number of F.O.C.U.S events in the same

explain the dish, where the ingredients

place, I have adjusted the events as I go.

come from, and how it has been adapted into

While the framework of F.O.C.U.S remains

modern Kaiseki. There are generally 6 or 7

the same, the curation of the conversation

stages where I serve a new dish to the diners,

is always different. At one particular

which gives the control of the conversation

location in a very small town where

back to me. Prior to the event, I create key

everyone knew each other, the first F.O.C.U.S

“landing points” that align with these dishes.

event was quite lively, and challenging to

Some of these landing points are personal

curate. The second F.O.C.U.S event at this

stories, some of them are questions, and

location I conducted as a silent dinner.

some of them are reflections on what I have

Each participant was given a notepad and

observed during my local research.

a pen, they could write each other notes,

share notes with the whole table, or write

Another control measure, is that I limit

notes for me to read at the end. With each

the seats at the table strictly to 10 people,

course, I would give them a note with a

including myself. This means only 9

story, a question, or an observation.

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What is your favourite recipe to cook during a group dinner? Why? I don’t think I can pin-point a favourite recipe, as most of the time a recipe changes each time I cook it (yes I’m one of those casual cooks who just throws things in and hopes for the best…). The thing I like to achieve the most when I’m cooking a dish, is creating a surprise. For the most part, that is doing VERY little to ingredients. This is difficult as there is nowhere to hide in minimalist cooking, but if you can hero an ingredient without doing too much to it, you’ve done your job well.

So here’s the basis for my favourite recipe: • Make it small, a mouthful of something that you have to eat all in one go; • Experiment with unusual flavour combinations (honeycomb and cheese, reindeer and rhubarb, heart of palm and watermelon); • Keep your ingredients list to a minimum, two or three ingredients, let them do the work; • Treat your ingredients with respect - this means doing as little to it as possible. If you have really fresh, good quality ingredients, don’t do anything to compromise them.

Recommended reading material / movies / documentaries / podcasts for people who want to learn more about dinner-table / food art arts!

Chef’s Table - Seasons 1 & 2 in particular; The Third Plate - Dan Barber; TED Radio Hour - The Food We Eat. THEEARTISSUE

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Lessons In Living: Simrit Malhi On Setting Up A Sustainable Permaculture Farm in South India

Disillusioned by the big-city, corporate

Together with her husband and daughter, Simrit

lifestyle, writer and designer Simrit Malhi

runs the day to day operations of the farm

turned in her hectic PR career in Bombay

while also hosting educational workshops on

for a different sort of hustle and bustle:

permaculture and environmental sustainability.

that of running a 15 acre farm in the South Indian hill-station of Kodaikanal.

I have always admired those brave souls who change their lives so completely, to live more

Simrit’s labour of love - Roundstone Farms,

purposefully as per their inner intuitions. It was a

sits beside an ancient forest frequented

pleasure to learn from Simrit about the realities

by wild elephants, boar, bison and deer.

of taking such a leap, and the fulfilment it can

It produces medicinal trees, timber,

bring.

for oil, avocados, oranges, pepper and coffee, among other produce, all grown completely organically under bio dynamic and permaculture principles.

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Maela Ohana: Could you tell us a bit about your background? How did you end up farming in Kodaikanal?

Simrit Malhi: About 10 years ago I stumbled

permaculture courses and supply organic

across the concept of bio-dynamic farming,

produce to the city.

and was attracted to it because it follows the moon cycle and was created by Rudolf Steiner - the founder of the Waldorf schools and Anthroposophy. I studied it formally and under my best friend’s dad who happened

MO: What were some of the reasons behind your decision to make that permanent jump, from urban life to farm life?

to be one of the first bio-dynamic farmers in India. I then landed a dream job of reviewing

SM: I was working in a PR firm in Bombay,

sustainable hotels around South Asia for a

and it was loud, unhealthy and stressful.

Danish company. I stayed in hundreds of

Tied in with the work I was doing in

hotels to inspect them on their ecological,

pharmaceutical PR (Big Pharma is real!); the

social and economical sustainability - working

dark side of politics, law and money got a bit

while staying in the most beautiful places in

too real for me. I knew immediately what I

the country.

needed to do, and was living on a farm by the end of the year. I love the daily life of being

I was beginning to understand that being

a farmer but the foremost reason for me

sustainable doesn’t mean having to make do.

moving to a rural, self-sustainable lifestyle is,

Like, what is true luxury?

political.

I was also learning about how natural

MO: So what does a typical day at Roundstone Farm look like?.

environments can be recreated and grown, but with the structured aim of beauty. I started designing and growing gardens in Mumbai and

SM: Life is quite seasonal for us; so different

around the country. I was designing gardens

things take precedent at different times of

and 'plant installations' according to different

the year. In the monsoons, and the months

art movements; filing plants according to

leading up to it, the farm takes centre stage

their architectural shapes. I was following

and is when we do the most of our planting,

Cecilia McCaughly, one of my favourite

earthworks and harvesting. In winter, I wake

permaculturalists, and was very influenced

up later, work on the farm less and more on

by her. She once said, “Beauty is a form of

my other projects. In the summer, there is

renewable energy.” Beauty itself gives you an

always the threat of forest fires, which we

impetus to create more beauty.

need to work against. I also try to follow the moon calendar as much as I can, which has

Meanwhile, I did a permaculture course in

taught me a lot. I noticed I'm more lethargic

Thailand and bought a farm in the Palani Hills

on water days, and I plan so I have less to

of South India, near a quiet mountain town

do then. The concept of a weekend has

called Kodaikanal. After my daughter was born

no real meaning to me. The only fixture in

in Goa, we decided to move to the farm. My

my schedule is the Sunday food market in

husband is Dutch, so even now I don't live on

Kodaikanal. That market deserves its own

the farm throughout the year. Nomad life. Now

Netflix series. I always learn something new

I farm, write on food and sustainability, hold

there.

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MO: What are some of the most notable changes you observed in your lifestyle and perspective, after becoming a farmer?

‘slowness’ means luxury to me. Time is a rare commodity these days, and sitting in a garden, peeling peas or beans with my daughter, talking, day-dreaming and observing feels important, necessary and unfortunately, today

SM: I have never worked harder or been

- a luxury.

happier. It is relieving to know that you are part of a solution in a time riddled with so

My husband has been teaching me a lot about

many problems. The physical labour of being

how economic systems work… and how you

a farmer helps me not be in my head too much.

can circumvent them. Not illegally! But through

It is a very meditative experience for me, so

crypto currencies or barter systems. By not

I find I am much more relaxed and…neutral.

buying things. By giving away things for free.

I used to be very ‘anti’ all the time; you know,

We have been very influenced by Charles

no parabens, no plastic, no mass production.

Eisenstein’s book – Sacred Economics; and

But since being a farmer and living in an

it is fun being creative within all your life

extremely rural setting, I have come to

decisions, not just at work.

appreciate junk food and the odd painkiller.

I have become more ‘for’ than against all

Cooking is a new passion for me and a creative

the time and more empathetic of all people.

outlet for me more and more. It unexpectedly

Creating and being part of communities is an

ties in with my love for writing and farming.

essential part of Permaculture. The first thing

Through researching about what seeds and

you do on your farm is build a pizza oven, then

plants to grow on my farm, I am gaining

start inviting your neighbours over. You are as

a more nuanced understanding of what

strong as your community – when you are old

an ‘indigenous’ or traditional food is. It is

and helpless, who will help you if not for the

interesting as a writer then to delve into the

ones you once cared for? The trees I plant are

socio-political or cultural understanding of

not for me.

food, which I am very glad to see becoming a trend in the food-writing world.

Also, we have also been thinking a lot about money. As we become more self sufficient, we rely less on money. Out in the village, having a good water source for example, is more

MO: You also host permaculture workshops at your farm. Can you tell us a bit more about this?

valuable than cash. So it has forced us to start talking about what it means to be ‘wealthy’.

SM: I am obsessed with Permaculture. As

Going back to the idea of the ‘good life’;

a design system and way of life - it has

sometimes we don’t have electricity and or any

completely changed the way I look at life.

phone signal but I absolutely believe I lead a

My understanding of it keeps evolving but

luxurious life. Of excellent produce, of living

at the same time it is rejuvenating to be at a

in a house you have built, of physical labour

Permaculture Design Certificate course (PDC)

that ensures a big meal and good night’s rest

and see new minds being blown away by it.

after, of the lack of stress, of living in constant

It is a definite AHA moment for most of the

natural beauty. It is a life of natural abundance.

people that come, so it is always very exciting

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to be a part of. They suddenly start seeing

mind. We like to say that a permaculture

that the solution is often based within the

solution is always a win-win solution, for all

problem itself.

stakeholders involved. In a permaculture community that John Champagne was a

Three ethics are at the basis of all

part of, decisions were not made based

permaculture: earth care, people care

on a majority based democracy (because

and fair share. It is not permaculture if it

of the ‘losing’ minority) but by complete

violates any of these ethics. So right off the

consensus – which means the decision is

beginning, it ensures how you approach

discussed till every member is satisfied

a situation – with everyone’s well being in

with the solution.

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Every stakeholder should be taken into

Equally frustrating is to see local farmers in

consideration. It goes without saying that

my village continue to use petrochemicals as

a permaculture farm is organic; so it's not

fertilizer and pesticide. There is a complete

about how you are growing your food but

loss of traditional farming methods and norms

also what you grow, where you grow it, who

in India, and that is heartbreaking to see.

you sell it to, how much money you make and what you do with that money.

It took a 600 page manual for the founder, Bill Mollison to explain all that

MO: How can we adopt a more sustainable approach to the food production and consumption on a smaller scale - for example, in an urban context?

permaculture entails! It encompasses every part of life - from politics or

SM: Foremost, we have the Power of the

economics to farming and building. There's

Consumer. Support local and small –

no one right way to be a permaculturist - you use the code of ethics and basic principles to design your space and life according to the resources and limitations around you.

The interconnectivity of nature and us as a part of it ensures that we understand that if we cause harm to one, it causes harm to ourselves. We are strong when we are diverse, when we accept and adapt to change, when we observe and learn, when we value the long term, when we take care of ourselves with play and friendship – all of which are permaculture principles.

MO: We talked a bit about the benefits of running a farm. What about the challenges?

SM: The biggest challenge is climate change. Trees flower and fruit a month later now; our part of South India has lost an entire monsoon season, since the past 4 years. It's difficult to plan planting cycles. It is not just physically tiring but also emotionally and spiritually exhausting to see hundreds of trees you planted die because there is no water.

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something that tells you where, how, or by

As an agrarian economy with a vast majority

whom your product was made. Buy your

below the poverty line, making sure your

food from the local lady farmer rather than

food is fair trade could be more important

the man. We can help by asking where

than eating local.

our produce is coming from, and whether your favourite restaurant or veggie vendor

Stop consuming as much. Share and

knows who is growing it. They might not

exchange clothes with your friends. Make

know today, but maybe someday soon, that

more friends. Share cars. Walk! Talk to your

question will get passed down our dismal

neighbours, create a community - it leads

supply chain

to sharing. I can’t stress enough that I think the only way we will be able to survive the

Eating local and organic is extremely

natural catastrophe we have created, is to

helpful - but the Indian context is different.

Make More Friends And Be Nice To Them.

MO: What do you see in the future of farming in India?

SM: There is a lot of potential in improving

MO: Last but not least, could you provide some resources for anyone looking to expand their knowledge about farming and permaculture?

supply chains (especially in India) between rural farmers and urban chefs. I would like to

SM: Do a PDC! There is permaculture in

see more direct communication between the

probably every country in the world right

two. I would like to see people segregate their

now. There are even free, online PDC’s

waste.

available. Open source knowledge is one of

the key tenets of Permaculture – so it isn’t

I would love for the government to start

difficult to find information on it.

nationwide compost plants to deal with the waste. I am quite hopeful of the future,

Bill Mollison and David Holmgren are the

actually. I get calls all the time from very

‘founders’ of Permaculture, so their book

intelligent, successful people wanting to

is a great start. Bill Mollison’s A Designer’s

leave their jobs and become farmers. It’s like

Manual is essential for anyone wanting to

a subconscious beacon being lit up in people.

start farming.

I see the world starting to take agriculture more seriously. We are already in the time of

Australia is the birthplace of Permaculture

‘agri-tech’ and I think that is going to boom. I

and has the oldest Permaculture

am really hoping for blockchain technology

communities; so we can see through them

to start being used by farmers (the milk

what thirty years of permaculture living

board in Kerala is already using it!).

does to people, the land and communities;

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and luckily there are some very inspirational people coming from there.

•M ark Garret has the dream permaculture career – he specializes in coastal permaculture; designing and

• My own teacher and a Permaculture

putting permaculture to work on places

‘Elder’, John Champagne; who is just an

like Richard Branson’s Necker Island and

excellent human being, a great farmer

the Six Senses hotels in the Maldives.

and inspirational teacher. https://www.

http://markgarrettpermaculture.com/

permaculturedesign.com.au/john-

•h ttp://www.permacultureglobal.com/ -

champagne

• I love Punk Rock Peramculture’s

•R osemary Morrow works in some of the

list of resources. https://

most difficult situations in the world; she

punkrockpermaculture.wordpress.com/

has worked in the Solomon Islands, with

resources-lots-of-em/ (I’m not the only

Bangladeshi refugees; last year she came

who found permaculture political!)

to India to work in Kashmir. Author

•h ttp://tobyhemenway.com/

of Earth User’s Guide to Permaculture and the Earth User’s Guide to Teaching

Permaculture book and DVD “A Good Home Forever.”

•R obyn Francis,

MO: Where can readers find more information about Roundstone Farm / stay updated about future workshops and residencies?

•C ecilia Macaulay is Permaculture’s answer to Marie Kondo, with more

SM: You can follow Roundstone Farms,

beauty https://www.ceciliamacaulay.com.

Kodaikanal on Facebook and @

au/.

Roundstone_farms on Instagram. THEEARTISSUE

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“My garden is a playground.

An open-air studio, a place to experiment. A place to watch the wind move the different textures within, to watch the play of light and shadow throughout the days and seasons.�

- Michaela Altweger

How An Artist Transformed Her Garden Into Her Creative Studio, And Vice Versa: Michaela Altweger Photography by Mira Loew

“My garden is a playground.

An open-air studio, a place to experiment. A place to watch the wind move the different textures - within, to watch the play of light and shadow throughout the days and - seasons.

It is a semi-public space for my art and my freedom.�

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“I grow the food I need in the summer: all sorts of tomatoes, pumpkins, courgette, salads, herbs, lavender, sage, rosemary, different types of basil and mint.

Roses, tulips, dahlias, magnolias, crocus, peony, daffodils.�

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“My garden is also a source of relaxation and inspiration.

Prepared and groomed wilderness. A place for exchange and a place for rest. Hills and patios, hanging and rocking chairs. A place to store found objects before they become sculptural material. A space to host family and friends.�

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Michaela Altweger is a self-taught artist based on the outskirts of Vienna, on the banks of the Danube river. She works with sculpture, painting and drawing. The mother of four has previously worked with costume design in children's theatre play productions as well as decorations and design for events. Her house and her garden are the two centrepieces of her artistic creation acting as both, artistic playground as well as space for hosting and holding family and friends.

Set back off the main road in a small suburban town about 20 minutes drive from Vienna, Michi’s house is surrounded by a big garden, filled with colourful wilderness and art. Passers-by often stop in awe, marvelling at this unusual sight.

The house itself is covered in drawings of pink lily, which are somewhat hidden in the summer by the overgrowing Japanese ivy.

Inside the house, not a single wall is white.

Paint is splattered all over the floors, the ceilings are continuations of paintings on fabric mounted on the walls. some areas are cluttered with small photographs of family and friends, congregations of memorabilia, slogans and short quotes are scribbled on the walls and furniture.

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The house is belted by a make-shift patio, temporary structures created with wooden pallets connecting house and garden while also creating individual places. A sunrise spot. A hidden bench between the tomato plants. An afternoon sun spot sheltered between an oleander bush and the allencompassing Japanese knotweed. A collection of places to linger.

In the centre of the garden is the ‘erdberg’, an artificially created hill, some chairs on it’s top to enjoy the view from. A nearby pile of truck tires is the ‘berry pile’, home to strawberry plants, blackberries, raspberries. A wall of old computer screens extends on the side, with more berries and pumpkin plans sprawling all over. The whole garden is designed in a particular colour scheme. All shades of red, purple and pink flowers are spotted all over. A couple of big old rose bushes frame the main platform outside the kitchen area where the tomatoes, courgettes and herb plants live. Scattered around the whole garden are numerous sculptures. a tower of wires covered in old ties sticks out of a shopping trolley. Overgrown by ivy are some old display cabinet structures. 4 containers frame the far corner of the garden. THEEARTISSUE

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A Garden Through The Looking Glass: Surrealist Fantasy Botanicals By Priyanka Shah

Tell us about your botanical sculptures: I am an Art Director and Artist working independently out of Mumbai. I graduated from Rachana Sansad College of Applied Art (Mumbai) and got my PG Diploma in Visual Communication from London College of Communication. Soon I progressed to working with leading design firms like Grandmother India, Alok Nanda & Company, Motherland JV and a few others.

Off and on, I like to indulge in passion projects and work with people from other creative disciplines like printmaking, fashion or immersive experiences. Currently, I am working on multiple design and branding projects, and my personal project—Fantasy Botanicals.

What started off as a 100 Day Project, has now evolved into a series of botanical sculptures. It takes familiar and unfamiliar organic elements out of context and unearths a new meaning; slowly building a world of fantasy. I combine my approach in design with the physicality of organic elements—texture and form. I like questioning the existing and uncovering my own natural aesthetic sensibilities.

Finding semblance in nature morte, I explore dimensions, emotions and feelings through my compositions making each exploration unique. I like infusing the idea of surrealism in these inanimate subjects to heighten one’s experience while exploring the multiplicity of life.

In a sea of sameness, I have managed to create an opportunity for a new medium of storytelling using natural elements. The methodology of Fantasy Botanicals is applied to various fashion, jewellery or lifestyle brands like Le Mill, Obataimu, Sapna Mehta Jewelry, Danda Food Project, Indus People, etc.

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To what extent do gardens inspire your creative work?

“I live in Mumbai, a city so crowded that there aren’t enough green spaces.

However, my mum has grown her own little garden on our terrace where she has a bunch of fruits, vegetables and flowers. I have grown up seeing the little advancements every day and I slowly learnt to appreciate them—a new sprout, a bud, a caterpillar chewing on the leaves, etc. The various forms in nature fascinated me. The curiosity deepened; I started going through books on botanical illustrations. As an artist, I would enjoy drawing the details and textures, the filaments, buds and fruiting capsules.”

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“I have been collecting leaves, flowers and twigs from all around—evening run at the park, on my way to work, mum’s garden, a nursery, my travels, etc. I stamp them with the date and keep them pressed between books. It is my way of documenting my memories and journey. I was always a hoarder but this is my most fascinating collection, which has now turned into a sculpture series.

Through my series, I’d like to engage people with the natural world in a visual manner. There is tremendous beauty in nature and only if everyone looked around more carefully they’d see it differently every time, and learn to appreciate and preserve it.” THEEARTISSUE

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Flora As Installation: Dennis DeHart On Constructing Temporal Sculptures From Natural Materials Between 2016 and 2017, artist Dennis

Maela Ohana: How did FLOS evolve after your

DeHart travelled to 13 countries over 4

residency in Malaysia?

continents, along with his wife Jesica and their two sons, Emmit and Asher.

Dennis DeHart: My wife and I continued

During this time he participated in 5

gathering local flora in my second residency

artist residencies in SE Asia, Europe,

near Chiang Mai in Thailand. While in Thailand,

and the American Southwest. In

the temporal sculptures began to take on more

between residencies, the DeHart family

of a 3D quality, including constructing makeshift

volunteered for WWOOF (World Wide

minimal “sets” in an outdoor, natural light

Opportunities in Organic Farming).

studio set up. My wife Jesica and I solidified our collaboration during this time. We continued

The project FLOS came about, initially,

our collaboration with formal gardens in the

during a residency in Malaysia, where

Netherland, wild and empty spaces in Sicily, and

DeHart began constructing still lives

urban nature in Santa Fe, NM.

and “temporal sculptures” out of flora from the medicinal plant gardens and

Aesthetically, native plants, architectural

wild plants from around the residency

spaces, and quality of light inform the works.

grounds. FLOS was created with locally

Conceptually, it’s a story of adventure and

found and collected native flora and

education while in a constant state of wanderlust.

materials. It was conceived and executed

The images are a continuation of previous

in collaboration with Jesica DeHart

constructed still life works, first conceptualized 15 years ago with the series “Trace.” Much of my

Environmentalism is a subtext in many

works are project based and weave together

of DeHart’s projects. FLOS, specifically,

interconnected themes of identity, place, and

addresses the importance of engaging

the natural world. A central, expressive tenant

with the natural world, and drawing

throughout the projects derives from the

inspiration the botanical and organic

connections, conflicts, and intersections of the

elements in one’s surrounding landscape.

natural and cultural worlds.

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MO: Which elements guided your curatorial choices, when bringing together the different natural elements in this project?

DDH: I was inspired by architectural spaces, travel, the domestic, play, puppets, performance, and ideas surrounding domesticity.

MO: How would you describe your process and methodology?

DDH: The process of creating the work employs a collaborative combination of walking, gathering, and collecting, which are then carefully organized and constructed as one of a kind “temporal sculptures”. Technically, various light shaping, bending, and directing devices were created out of locally collected papers, and employed as a kind of performative stage, in order to frame, direct and reflect the “sculptures”. Often we referenced the flor construction as “puppets” on a stage.

The natural world can help one to reconnect to our humanness, allowing one to be present with oneself, nature, and the earth. Nature can also be challengingcompelling us to step out of our comfort zones and be reminded of our “place” in the bigger universe.

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MO: Do you have a strong relationship to

MO: Which is your favourite image from the

nature, as an artist and otherwise?

series and why?

DDH: I grew up in the wilds of Oregon, my

DDH: That’s a tough question but formally/

wife, the wilds of Washington, USA. One

visually it is perhaps this image we

of the things that brought us together,

constructed in Santa Fe, NM. It was one of the

was our passion for the natural world. I

last pieces we created.

have continually had a garden since I was a child. From 2010-16, I created a garden in my backyard that including fruit trees, garden boxes, and play spaces. The back yard/ garden was a multi-functional nature space that was child and family centered.

Additionally, it was a looped system, in which all our food scraps and yard waste was composted and reused in the garden.

MO: Do you think, more generally, that an interaction with "nearby nature," such as gardens, can help inspire artists in their creative practice?

DDH: Nearby nature can take a lot of forms.

I happen to live near some very remote and wild lands here in the western United States.

Equally, having lived in and worked in many densely populated urban environments, I have always loved gardens, parks, and green spaces. I think/feel cities parks and greenspaces should be celebrated as much or more as museums and the like.

MO: Where can learn more about FLOS? DDH: Currently I have produced a small edition artist book of around 100 pages. The book can be directly purchased from me at dennis.DeHart@wsu.edu. THEEARTISSUE

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Four Urban Farmers On The Art Of The Garden, And How To Build Your Own From The Ground Up. Words & Images by Maela Ohana

In the words of Alexander Pope, “all

especially in the context of urban living

gardening is landscape painting.” Artists

where space is an uncommon luxury. I

through the ages have sought refuge in

have tried without much enduring luck

gardens for inspiration, mediation, and to

to set up my own balcony garden in my

revel in the wonders of nature’s own artistic

city apartment. Between the scorching

creations. Some have gone so far as to refute

summer sun, the cul-de-sac wind channels,

the distinction between their studio practice

the neighbour’s cat and the squirrels, my

and their horticultural practice - Monet,

garden always succumbed to a tragic battle

who painted his beloved Giverny garden

of the elements. Of course, it can be done

over the last thirty years of his life, claimed

with the right skills and the right knowledge,

his garden (and not its watercolour replica)

and it is important to keep trying. Edible

to be his “most beautiful masterpiece.”

balcony gardens reduce unnecessary

wastage in the chain of food production,

I do believe that gardening, like cooking,

increase food security, and do their part

is a form of art that transcends into the

in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

realms of the heart. Watching a plant slowly

Not to mention they grow into peaceful

flourish under your care, cultivating a space

oases to work, create, write, or think in.

of beauty and learning - gardens can be

likened to living installations that engage

In preparation of a new gardening

our five senses while nourishing our spirit.

attempt this summer, I set out to

learn some of the principles of small-

Nevertheless, setting up a new garden at

scale urban farming from those who

home can be a daunting task for a beginner,

have had more success than I.

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Designer: Hydroflora MTL

Nyima Ohana and Ofer Gensler Travelling Farmers

Design Strategies For Your Urban Garden

concepts you can use to create a garden

I began by reaching out to my sister and

which will be aesthetically and sensually

brother in law, who have worked in various

inspiring while also being useful. These

urban and rural agricultural projects around

include: colour, shape, texture and smell, all

the world, such the Kidron Food Forest in

of which can be manipulated according to

Israel, Samata Food and Medicinal garden in

your tastes, preferences and your ultimate

India, and - currently, Lufa Farms in Montreal.

vision for the garden.

Their tips centred around a design process

Colours can express themselves in foliage

that negotiated environmental constraints

or bloom. For shadier spaces, foliage is an

with one’s ideal vision for their garden.

easy way of achieving colour patches and

sprucing up the visual appeal of a garden. For

When setting up a new garden, start by

example, red kale is colourful and edible too.

carefully exploring your micro “terroir-” a

Blooms need more sun, if you have a light-

French word used to describe the regional

filled balcony, consider introducing colour

elements of your environment, including

with purple lavenders, orange daylilies, white

sunlight, temperature, humidity, soil

camomile flowers, or blue morning glory.

type, etc. Whether you are working with

a windowsill, rooftop, balcony or outdoor

Plants can also reconstitute the shape of

garden, the access to sunlight will be the

your space, to provide more privacy or even

most important factor. Sunlight - or lack

hide clutter. For example, you could build a

thereof, will determine the varieties of plants

trellis with a variety of climbers such as peas

you can grow. Most herbs and edible plants

or honeysuckle. Hanging pots with cascading

need copious amounts of sunlight, while

plants such as geraniums can also create

houseplant varieties require less.

interesting visual effects in your garden

while also amplifying the sense of space.

Firstly, how do you explore and understand

your microhabitat? Start by taking

Texture is usually achieved with grasses or

measurements of your available space, and

hairy plants. Such as lemongrass or sage.

tracking the distribution of sunlight across

Have fun, play with plants that feel soft and

that space throughout the day by taking

dreamy or that make a statement!

photographs at hourly intervals. Then, take

these photos to a garden centre in your city,

As for smell - edible flowers and flowering

and ask for recommendations regarding

herbs are wonderful “small-garden” options

hardy plants that do well in your particular

since they will fill your garden with a

climate and with that specific amount of

delicious fragrance while also being useful

space and sunlight.

in the kitchen. Some scented flowers can be

made into teas and fragrant herbs are good

Next, let’s talk about maximizing the use

for cooking. Try: lavender, lemon balm, violet

of a small space. There are several design

flowers, nasturtium, or anise hyssop.

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Image courtesy of Ofer Gensler, Nyima Ohana-Gensler

“The way you play with these elements is where the creativity of the gardener comes in. Think of them as your artistic medium: colour, texture, and shape can create visual effects in your garden ...�

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Image courtesy of Ofer Gensler, Nyima Ohana-Gensler

Another thing to consider is that other

plants do not suit small places! Adding

creatures may enjoy your garden too. So you

layers will add depth and will make the

could specifically choose to include plants

space more interesting to look at - I would

that are attractive to bees, hummingbirds

recommend combinations of tall and

and butterflies. A pollinator-friendly garden

cascading plants, leafy and grassy, subtle

would include nectar and pollen-rich plants

and bold, with diverse, complementary

such as wildflowers and old-fashioned

colours.

varieties of flowers.

The way you plan on using your garden

Ofer: The way you play with these elements

will influence these choices too. Do you

is where the creativity of the gardener comes

usually sit on your balcony at night? Then

in. Think of them as your artistic medium:

consider night blooming plants that

colour, texture, and shape can create visual

will exude a nice smell in the evenings,

effects in your garden - elongating space

such as queen of the night, jasmine,

or depth, highlighting or hiding specific

and evening primrose. If you plan on

features, or imbuing the space with a specific

occupying your garden in the day when

mood - cheerful, or romantic.

the sun is harsh, then you might want to prioritize garden structures that will

Nyima: To my personal taste, the more

enclose the space and add shade and

layered a garden is the better it looks. Sparse

privacy.=

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Sheena Swirlz

Founder of Urban Homestead Montreal Growing Food Year Round

value. A handy tip is to use plants which

Sheena Swirlz runs Montreal Homestead,

can be grown from cuttings, as these are

a series of workshops and events with

easy to obtain inexpensively - or even

the aim of educating Montrealers about

freely, from neighbours, friends or family.

sustainable urban gardening. I attended

Mint, geraniums and rosemary are a few

one of her talks on growing food year-

examples.

round in small spaces; patios, courtyard

gardens or even on window sills.

Another handy way of planning your

kitchen-garden is by choosing plants which

Sheena’s tips emphasized season planning…

are expensive, inaccessible, or inconvenient

and lots of DIY.

to purchase in stores. For example, sprouts

are one of the easiest crops to grow at

If you live in a temperate climate start

home, and are heavily marked up in retail.

designing your balcony in early March,

Elements from permaculture design can be

and growing seedlings indoors or in a

useful too - choosing a diversity of crops

covered planter box outdoors. Miniature

and companion planting - crops which

greenhouses can be used to protect

work well together by sharing resources.

delicate plants from squirrels and from

Kale is compatible with dill, rosemary and

the wind. Planter boxes are relatively easy

sage, but not a good match with tomatoes or

to make oneself from upcycled and found

strawberries. Look up companion planting

materials, such as old windows, crates or

charts online for more information on this.

disused shelving units.

In the summer, place larger plants above Sheena’s ideal garden contains mostly

smaller ones to create much needed

edibles, with a pop of colour for aesthetic

shade. A good way of achieving a gradient

“Another way of planning your kitchen-garden is by choosing plants which are expensive, inaccessible, or inconvenient to purchase in stores.”

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STARTING YOUR OWN

URBAN INDOOR MINI FARM Potted plants TO IMPROVE air quality

SEEDLINGS

HYPDROPONIC Window farm

HERBS & CUTTINGS

MICRO

SPROUTS

SPROUTS

SPROUTS

GREENS

USE A STURDY WOODEN SHELF

Illustration by Maela Ohana, based on original concept design by Sheena Swirlz

NEW SEEDLINgS

SPROUTS

Vermicompost or mushrooms

of sunlight access is to place your pots on a

growing conditions, temperatures should be

vertical shelf, with the sun-loving plants on

maintained above 17 degrees Celsius.

top and the shade-loving plants below.

Last but not least, community gardens are

In Autumn, start bringing plants indoors,

a perfect option for those who do not have

and switch to cold resistant crops like Kale

access to their own outdoor space. Look into

and swiss chard and shitake mushrooms.

the community gardens, urban walk groups,

Herb gardens are great for indoor gardens

foraging groups, and shared farms available

if you have sufficient natural light (or

in your area - it’s a great way to connect with

supplemental growing lights) - , basil, sage,

the community around you and to explore

mint, dill, parsley… Under ideal indoor

your urban landscape.

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Megan Mericle Office and Administration coordinator Concordia Greenhouse Project, Montreal The community greenhouse as a model for a public arena.

other training institutions. Educational

Concordia Greenhouse is a massive public

for youth empowerment: there is something

facility on top of Concordia University,

invigorating about being in the presence of

one of Montreal’s most multicultural and

nature, helping a plant thrive, and seeing it

diverse university. Aside growing a variety

successfully grow from seedling to fruition

of vegetables from edible varieties to

under one’s care.

decorative flowers, it also offers greenhouse

space to local sustainable agro-businesses,

Fostering opportunities for sharing and

and offers a series of publicly accessible

learning within a greenhouse or other

educational programs. Its seedlings and

community farm is vital because it

seed library is made available to the public,

contributes to the sustainability of urban

and its edible produce is sold to the broader

farming and the accessibility of public

community by Concordia’s City Farm school.

knowledge. Each individual comes to the

table with a different set of skills and ideas,

While Concordia Greenhouse is primarily

so it is important to cultivate spaces where

a plant-centric space, its emphasis on

minds can connect and where networks of

the social benefits of urban agriculture

ideas are nurtured as well as the network of

is notable. The independently run “Youth

plants. This is the socially relevant side of

Engagement Program,” for example, takes

urban agriculture.

programs like these create opportunities

on “city apprentices,” high schoolers with a passion for agriculture, and teaches them

When you first walk into the Concordia

new skills related to growing plants. It also

Greenhouse, what stands out is the

hosts affordable group tours for schools and

centrally positioned tables and workspaces

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where students are studying, young people are conversing, and where the workshops are held. This space is open to the general public, although it is primarily occupied by students of the university below it. It is run with an emphasis on maintaining a safe, accessible and inclusive public space, where anyone can freely exchange ideas around class, race, ableism, privilege, sexual and gender identity, and other social issues.

This is also highlighted in the way the greenhouse is run - with a non-hierarchical approach, where anyone can volunteer, help out or partake in decisions surrounding the management and maintenance of the space.

It is important to keep the information that flows through such a public space as flexible and mutant as possible. Concordia’s “Visiting Projects” helps maintain this fluidity - projects that feed back into the cycle of knowledge and sharing are periodically rotated into the space. This year, Neumark design - a permaculture farmer, HydroFlora, a collective from the Concordia Food Coalition (CFC), and Urban Worms, a vermicompost brand, have been occupying the greenhouse annex. These groups help organize a diverse range of workshops during the course of their residencies.

Overall, Megan emphasized the importance of using public gardening spaces to empower the success of one’s community - to teach people how to grow their own food, to see the fruits of their labour come into fruition, and to share public knowledge forward. THEEARTISSUE

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From The Earth Issue Bookshelf

Staying With The Trouble: Making Kin In The Chthulucene

A book review by Hannah Rowan Photography by Hannah Rowan & Elena Cremona What does it mean to interact with nature

through as opposed to within the structures

when more and more living beings all over

we critique, notably the destructive legacy

the planet increasingly experience a loss

of settler colonialism and extractive

of habitat, spiralling ecological devastation,

capitalism. Amidst the awareness of

oceanic acidification and species extinction?

ecological collapse, the very first page of

Despite daily news of climate change and

Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the

dizzying scientific figures and warnings, the

Chthulucene is a call to arms:

crisis can still often get misplaced into a time of beyond, of things to come, crisis of present is deeply intoxicated with trouble.

Within this unfolding loss what methods are needed to critique the systems that threaten and destroy these habitats? In awareness of the escalation of ecological ruin, can joy still be found in encountering intricate relationships between living beings, and how might we learn from their survival?

Amidst the sixth great extinction of the Earth, multispecies feminist theorist Donna J. Haraway offers provocative new ways to reconfigure our relationship to the Earth and all its inhabitants. Staying with the Trouble:

Making Kin in the Chthulucene weaves through times, matter and meaning to extend beyond the pages, knotting together living beings, places and temporalities.

Haraway’s method of thinking through this is bodily and entangled, she utilises the language of making, threading, connecting, which becomes suggestive of repair, growth and building. Haraway describes the form and language of the text as interconnected in its essence: ‘braiding me and my readers into beings and patterns at stake.’ Haraway complicates definitions of self, time, present, future, fact, fiction and invites us to stay with the trouble, encouraging her readers to work

198

Trouble is an interesting word. It derives

to devastating events, as well as to settle

from a thirteenth-century French verb

troubled waters and rebuild quiet places….

meaning “to stir up,” “to make cloudy,”

staying with the trouble requires learning

“to disturb.” We-all of us on Terra-live

to be truly present, not as a vanishing

in disturbing times, mixed-up times,

pivot between awful or endemic pasts

troubling and turbid times….Our task is to

and apocalyptic or salvific futures, but

make trouble, to stir up potent response

as mortal critters entwined in myriad

“Despite daily news of climate change and dizzying scientific figures and warnings, the crisis can still often get misplaced in a time of beyond...” unfinished configurations of places, times,

Staying With the Trouble: Making Kin in

matters, meanings.

the Chthulucene is full of references and examples of symbiotic life and kinship in

Haraway’s tools for this methodology involve

efforts for life to continue, what Haraway

thinking, working, making and taking action

describes as ‘ongoingness’, these influences

through the trouble. Striking the balance

bring together biology, art, indigenous land

between awareness of this devastation

rights, science fiction and feminism. She

combined with resilience and wonder is what

conjures a myriad of earthly and fabulated

makes Haraway’s approach to writing about

future beings to convey how “science fact

the present and future living beings of this

and speculative fabulation need each other,

Earth so vital. Symbiosis and Kin are two of the

and both need speculative feminism.” In

main threads that weave through Haraway’s

reference to Ursula Le Guin and Latour, she

storytelling as a means to enable growth and

passionately argues that we ‘need to change

repair. A general definition of symbiosis is an

the story...to think outside the prick tale

interaction between two different organisms

of Humans History.’ Haraway stresses the

living in close physical association, typically to

intersectionality of feminism, ecological

the advantage and survival of both. A familiar

awareness, environmental justice and

example of this can be seen between reef-

social justice, the examples she cities often

building corals and photosynthetic algae,

physically involve the act of making and

the organisms share a home and mutually

mending to demonstrate resilience, kinship

aid each other in photosynthesis needed for

and hope, as seen in the crochet coral reef

survival and growth. Kin can be understood

project and the art of Navajo weaving, to

as a term given to one’s family or relations,

knot together living beings, communities

but Haraway extends this notion to all living

and stories of survival. These are inspiring

beings to include human, insect and plant life,

examples of efforts to braid repair into

to which she give us all the name of ‘critters’.

damaged places through tactile gestures

The book makes clear the importance of

and acts across species. Haraway’s intricate

storytelling for earthly survival as a means

and multifaceted approach to storytelling of

to develop ways of making kin and becoming

symbiotic relationships opens the reader’s

with, the message being that ‘we are all

gaze to see these relationships everywhere,

critters’. There is a tragic irony that due to

in many times, scales and localities. By

warming oceans and acidification, these

looking closely and moving through scales

existing examples of kinship and symbiotic

of life forms we can be reminded of the

growth are becoming extinct.

detailed wonder that can be found by simply

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Examples likes these encourage us in turn to look for signs of life amidst human disturbed places. Observing the symbiotic relationships between living organisms provides a way of thinking through contradictions of destruction alongside a need for ‘ongoingness’, to speculate what life might look like in the ruins made my human systems.

Staying the with Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene asks how should we mourn a planet and prevent multi-species extinction whilst not totally succumbing to the awful apocalyptic doom of these troubling times.

Haraway suggests language as a route away from environmental catastrophe, in her own words ‘it matters what ideas we use to think other ideas’, as the language we use to describe events and beings filters down into our consciousness and behaviour.

Haraway cautions embracing the term Anthropocene, for these time-spaced global events of the geological epoch we inhabit. looking at the minutiae of life, ancient and

This falls into the trap of oversimplifying

new, upon a forest floor, where animate and

the narrative of climate change and affirms

interconnecting life forms of non human

an anthropocentric perspective by placing

ecologies play out across organic and lithic

humankind at the centre of these events, in

timescales. Growing on rocks and clinging to

an attitude that reinforces the rhetoric that

trees are sprays of lichen, where a mutualistic

has unwoven humans from interconnected

relationship between algae and fungi is

life forms. This viewpoint also places

unfolding.

humans as equally culpable as opposed to critiquing specific human systems such as

One of the most enduring notions throughout

colonialism and capitalism and neglects

the book is drawn from Haraway’s colleague

to recognise the unequal distribution

and friend Anna Tsing who examines ‘the

of toxicity and destruction, which often

arts of living on a damaged planet’ in The

affects indigenous and marginalised

Mushroom at the End of the World: Life in

communities with the heaviest and earliest

Capitalist Ruins. Tsing studies the matsutake

burdens. Haraway offers her own linguistic

mushroom, which often grows in sites of

suggestion of Chthulucene, the etymology

human-disturbed landscapes from excessive

derives from ‘Pimoa cthulhu’, a Californian

logging. The matsutake has an ability to

redwood spider. This tentacular language

nurture trees and help forest regrowth.

is suggestive of web building and manifests

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ideas of connection that interweaves critters. Telling the story of the Chthulucene is Haraway’s speculative offering of how we might ‘live in the ruins.’ She delves into tales of the Chthulucene as a needed ‘third story, a third netbag for collecting up what is crucial for ongoing, for staying with the trouble.’ Haraway cites examples of the Chthulucene currently in action before braiding her own speculative narration in the final chapter where she begins her own storytelling for earthly survival where she speculates into a future over 400 years from now. The future is not without its troubles, but in the year 2425, many humans have learnt how to live alongside other beings, entwined in symbiotic kinships of growth and solidarity. As a coping strategy Haraway employs speculative storytelling to enable us to think about what it means to stay present - here, now and for the futures to come. The challenge this leaves us is to turn the language and ideas of Staying with the

Trouble into non-hierarchical, symbiotic kinships across species and timescales.

Haraway’s creative thinking is full of imagination and speculation; it is deeply necessary and vital as a way for thinking through what it means to share this Earth with others. She collapses human hierarchy in relation to other beings to frame our existence within a wider mesh of timescales, that threads us together with a myriad of critters, to enforce the vitality of making kin and life in the ruins.

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Recommended Reading List: • ‘Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet: Ghosts

and Monsters of the Anthropocene’, Editors Anna Tsing, Nils Bubandt, Elain Gan, Heather Ann Swanson • ‘Gathering Moss: a Natural and Cultural

History of Mosses’, Robin Wall Kimmere • ‘The Mushroom at the End of the World’, Anna Tsing • ‘The Living Mountain’, Nan Shepherd • ‘A Field Guide to Getting Lost’, Rebecca Solnit • ‘Decolonizing Nature’, T J Demos • ‘The Ecological Thought’, Timothy Morton • ‘Geology of Media’, Jussi Parikka • ‘Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things’, Jane Bennett THEEARTISSUE

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We are part of a system driven by power, money and exploitation, where personal gain is often prioritised over the wellbeing of our planet. We are part of a growing movement that challenges this status quo, and we hope that you’ll join the discussion.

Thank you.

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