News
Final Week for Tucked into the Garden Bed at Bromfield Gallery
anna leigh clem
Jan 24, 2023
Summary
In my series 𝑻𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝑩𝒆𝒅, I question, listen, touch, and taste—in search of connection with a garden and the preservation of its beauty. My displeasure was replaced by intrigue as I observed and captured the garden’s unfolding. This work initially provided a counterbalance to personal and greater uncertainties, and became an exercise in acceptance, of petals falling to the ground.
Inspired by my childhood garden, which no longer exists physically, I searched to rediscover lost innocence. Using my parents’ present-day garden as my guide, I witnessed the full cycle—from the first spears of growth until their inevitable demise. I took photos of what I saw there, trying to capture the essence of place, and myself in it.
Entranced by the vibrancy of the summer season, I turned to the anthotype photographic process. Using the flower’s pigment to make light-sensitive emulsions, my garden photographs were impressed upon the botanical distillations by the sun’s rays. The results are like jars of preserves, emphasizing the photograph’s inherent stillness and marked "death" of the subject. This act of collection and preservation initially transformed the garden's passing into something more lasting than a bloom, yet due to the instability of both anthotypes and life alike, became an exercise in acceptance—of petals falling to the ground.
In this installation from the series, I have combined a selection of photographs, anthotype pigments, altered natural objects, and clay slugs and snails, all sourced from my parents’ garden and surrounding area starting the summer of 2020, when my partner and I stayed with my parents to escape the confines of the city during the COVID-19 lockdown.
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