WHAT'S UP WITH ALL THE PLANTS?

If you haven't noticed, plants come up a lot in my blog posts, which is because they come up a lot in my work. It's a little weird that so much of my work is obsessed with houseplants. Plants are pretty and all, but why paint them so much? I've been asking myself that question a lot in the last few weeks because I've grown sick of painting plants. If I'm so tired of them, then, what's with all the plants?

Wreath. Oil on panel, 24" x 18". 2017

Attending the Women's March and seeing what it turned into made me realize that I wanted to make art about women and Feminism. I also wanted to place the work in the context of our consumer, Capitalist society. Feminism has been very on trend recently, so much so that businesses pounce on the opportunity to market shampoos and clothing as "feminist" while ignoring and obscuring the fact that Feminism is a political movement. 

Plant Crown Postcard, Spiderwort. Available here.

I love icons and symbols in artwork, and in books I love metaphor. What better symbol for the complications and problems that Feminism faces than the houseplant? Succulents and houseplants have been having their own trendy moment. The metaphors that can be drawn between plants and women can go on and on: beautiful varieties, poisonous and healing, different origins, invasive species, native species, growth, etc. 

These sketches will be collaged into a larger piece.

What really sold me on the idea of using house plants in my work is their simultaneous connection and disconnect from nature. They can make us feel connected to the earth, but in a very tame, and, sometimes, superficial way. "Mother Nature," herb lore, and a relationship to plant life are traditionally associated with women, but very few American women have that sort of meaningful connection to the earth. Houseplants sit in their own niche between nature and domestication. 

Plant Crown Postcard, Pothos. Available here.

Plants aren't specifically good or bad. They are complicated, on trend, and tied to women and domesticity. Their complexity sums up where we're at as women right now as we demand equal pay, an end to discrimination, and unfettered access to our rights. We are living in the time of 6th-wave Feminism, White Feminism, Inclusive Feminism, and Consumer Feminism, meaning, it's complicated. I am using plants to think about connection, understandings and misunderstandings of our history, and how to own our power.

Grow. Oil on panel, 12" x 12". 2017