Description:
These pieces are silhouette portraits of the blacklisted alien-invasive plants from within the larger project of “Blacklisted: A Planted Allegory,” shot on the last day of their month-long asylum. The images are a record of their sorry state after being contained in the artificial environment of a gallery space with no natural light or fresh air. Taken from behind a screen, the stark outlines highlight their drooping stalks, wilting leaves, a feeling that the burden of survival, is one that is too heavy to bear. They have endured but just barely. Missing, are the plant’s surface details, the presumably brown-tinged shades of their leaves or the faded color of their withered blossoms. We are left to project our own assumptions on the extent of their deterioration. Do we assume the worst or guess that this moment was only a slight setback to their overall vitality? The images are placed in the panes of the gallery’s window just over a small balcony meant to hold potted plants. Printed on a translucent medium they are illuminated from behind, a window transformed into a light box. The presence of their absence is both light in the ghostly hovering of these flora and heavy with what it would portend to remove these plants entirely from the landscape, all of which are meant to be actively destroyed because of their inclusion in California’s Blacklist. They each arrived from exotic lands and for the most part, came with the people who are from there as well. This particular group’s origins extend from South America to Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Europe; they reflect the historical record of this country, one that was built on colonization, slavery, migrant laborers, immigrants, and refugees seeking to set their roots in firmer ground. These images are accompanied by individual stories written from the perspectives of each of the plants as they made their journey to California along with the experience of being rejected and dismissed now that they have established themselves.
Title:
Blacklisted: A Planted Allegory (Punctum)
Year:
2016
Media:
Duratrans inkjet prints, custom steel frames, enamel, LED lights
Dimensions:
14 1/2" x 20 1/2" each
