Growth

This experimental piece honors my personal transformation process that’s been catalyzed by plant medicine. This collage incorporates one of my favorite plants, the fern. Ferns are one of the more challenging species to care for because they are finicky and highly delicate. Ferns can only thrive in particular conditions, with a very specific amount of moisture. In understanding the relationship between a fern and how much water it needs, I've learned to be attuned to my own unique needs. After two years of failure with ferns, I've developed a rhythm where I can foresee their needs and give them the appropriate amount of water, especially on very hot days. Just a few very hot hours will make a fern upset and she will dry up.

Similarly, my own relationship to water has shifted over the last years. I have been drinking much more water as a way to cleanse and have a spiritual relationship with an element that represents the largest body on earth. In my plant medicine journeys, I've had encounters with the water spirit and I've learned how to listen to it and be a guardian through my activism. This piece is about being connected to other species, listening to my own needs and their needs as well. Plants are a unique, regenerative medicine and they have many lessons to teach us if we can slow down enough to listen. My relationship to plants as a caretaker and as an activator of new plant life has transformed how I live and think. In this large collage, I attempted a new grid approach to composition and combined screenprint with linoleum block, monotype collage, and handwriting.