Theoretical Roots and Artistic Ramifications of the Garden

It all began with a garden.

When I was invited to engage in this digital residency, in late January, I was dreaming of the plants that would sprout in my vegetable garden, now buried beneath a white blanket. The winter months flowed by, giving way to the soft warmth of spring. As I was writing about my research intentions, I was elbow deep in seedlings. The school year was coming to an end, my daughter was about to finish nursery school, and I was already imagining the hours we’d spend together planting, weeding, harvesting, and tasting what was growing in the backyard.

So, as I gradually settled into the pace of summer, the greening of the landscape, the scent of lilacs floating in the air, and the lengthening days, I articulated my research around gestures of artistic care toward living things. In the heat of June, I continued to cultivate my thoughts on the omnipresence of gardening in contemporary art, and on the relationships that blossom abundantly in this ecosystem.