“And above all the need – indissociable from my very nature, from my way of seeing and thus of thinking – to go see everything very very close up so as to see, and consequently, the development of a vision that is hyperattentive to details, my approach as a scrutinizing ant, my sensitivity to the least sign.”
Helene Cixous
Exploring the Astrantia major ‘Hadspen Blood’ seed with my microscope and camera, as part of the work I’m making for the Abundance Garden Trail, in September in Somerset, in response to the former Hadspen Garden.
Pearlescence.
Colour.
Lens.
Focus, how to bring a garden that no longer exists into focus.
Placing a seed on my plant label for the Astrantia ‘Hadspen Blood’ plant that I bought all those years ago at Hadspen Garden.
Language, naming, typeface, form, growing tip, tentacles, squid.
I saw a live octopus come out from under a rock, as I lay face down on the surface on the water, in Sicily. It was so compelling, so alive, I knew I could not eat one ever again.
These seeds are reminiscent of squid, and remind me of the commonality of form and shape across nature, as well as distinctiveness and individuality. Tiny. Universe.
inquilines - art and cultivation 