For #Five2Watch this week we've selected five artists whose work reflects on ecology, and our own place within the world’s natural ecosystems: Anne-Mie Melis, Charys Wilson, Rebecca Chesney, Matthew Verdon and Anna Keleher.
Chicory Flexine, 2017
Anne-Mie Melis and Roger Lougher have been collaborating for the g39 UNIT(e) programme (2017, Cardiff). They have researched growing vegetables in the unnatural habitat of the gallery space and cultivated chicory in the darkness of one of the storage cupboards. This process was shared with the public through performance, talks, food and art events at g39. The artists are interested in how we live within our environment and the possibility of this being done in a sustainable way. What is the ecological impact of contemporary society on the natural environment and how is this framed philosophically and represented in art? (http://www.chicoryflexine.wales)
Window Box I, 2021
This window box was created as my submission for the 'Limin - Alley' project in Belfast March 2021.A development of the first project now in partnership with 9ft in Common and the Imagine Festival. Spearheaded by Meadbh McIlgorm.
The window box consists of handmade botanicals made from recycled and biodegradable materials. Paper, wax and wire. Which are placed behind a translucent screen to obscure the view, a comment on our lack of clarity surrounding the current climate crisis. The boxes also contain small lights which would transform the artworks once night fell, creating a warm ambient light, echoing the surrounding windows.
Melody 1, 2015
Melody 1 (Mistle thrush Turdus viscivorus)
Drawing to accompany a field recording of a Mistle Thrush in Preston city centre. Pencil and text on paper 2015. From a series of 4.
New work commissioned by AirSpace Gallery included in the Indefinable Cities exhibition in the gallery in spring 2015 and then touring to six cities in Japan in summer 2015.
Faith in a better future, 2014
Genetically modified soybeans grown from seed purchased on Ebay.com shipped from the USA, Dieter Rams 606 Universal Shelving System made from recycled timber and metal, large and small petri dishes, CFL grow light, digital print of Albert Bierstadt's "Looking Down Yosemite Valley" (1865)
Interviews with Fungi, 2008 - 2009
Interview with Amanita Muscaria is part of my growing archive of interviews with the " things" of the world. I have interviewed fungi from Poland to Dartmoor and learnt how important they are in shaping our world. We have much to learn from them!
Published 12 November 2021