Shrines to Nature, 2020 - ongoing, led by Yevgenia Davidoff
Amidst the onset of the pandemic, when our shopping habits were pared down to essentials, a mountain of discarded plastic packaging emerged as the genesis for our Shrines to Nature series. Contemplating the myriad forms, shapes, and sizes of these packages, we delved into the notions of overconsumption and gluttony, reflecting on their implications for broader societal paradigms such as power dynamics and control.
In our quest to explore these concepts, we chose to cast abstract notions—represented by transparent forms—into concrete shapes, seeking to establish a more tangible connection to these ideas from an epistemological standpoint. The transparent glass forms, however, are not left bare. Inspired by Albrecht Dürer's exquisite rendering of wild nature in his "Piece of Turf," we have adorned these glass elements with intricate, hand-painted botanical designs. This juxtaposition of the industrial concrete with the delicate, naturalistic imagery on the glass serves as a poignant reminder of the fragile beauty of the natural world amidst the weight and permanence of our consumptive excesses.
To amplify the dialogue on gluttony, we juxtaposed the solidity of concrete with the transparency of these botanically adorned glass forms. While seemingly disparate in properties, both materials share a common origin: sand. This exploration of how two seemingly opposing elements can trace back to the same source forms the crux of our investigation in this series, echoing the intrinsic interconnectedness of nature and human activity in our contemporary, post-natural existence.
Installation view at Icosa gallery
