WildWood
Current Gallery
July 2015
Hand cut paper, lace, giclee prints, pressed in glass to cast shadows
large frames (mahogany) measure 30 in x 30 in, small frames (white) approximately 12 in x 12 in. Wall paper printed on phototex approximately 96 in x 90 in
large frames (mahogany) measure 30 in x 30 in, small frames (white) approximately 12 in x 12 in. Wall paper printed on phototex approximately 96 in x 90 in
The body of work that makes up Wildwood developed in my mind over the course of a year. It has grown out of my day job as a dog walker and my travels to jungles outside of Baltimore.
All the images in the show are photos I have taken of wild plants in Costa Rica, my house plants at home, and some of the dogs that I walk (even the frayed paper on the dogs is a combination of many different dogs’ hair).
By combining these all together, I am thinking about domestication and our relationship to nature. The repetition of the images of both the dogs and plants is intentional. We take what we like from a species and breed it into something we like even better. And by bringing them into our homes, we have captured a piece of nature and developed it into a docile companion, or keep its growth at bay in a terra cotta pot.
But this show is not cynical. We have an incredible connection to dogs, and house plants really do make great pets. Wildwood is a celebration of how life propagates itself and the new relationships we form to its many iterations.
All the images in the show are photos I have taken of wild plants in Costa Rica, my house plants at home, and some of the dogs that I walk (even the frayed paper on the dogs is a combination of many different dogs’ hair).
By combining these all together, I am thinking about domestication and our relationship to nature. The repetition of the images of both the dogs and plants is intentional. We take what we like from a species and breed it into something we like even better. And by bringing them into our homes, we have captured a piece of nature and developed it into a docile companion, or keep its growth at bay in a terra cotta pot.
But this show is not cynical. We have an incredible connection to dogs, and house plants really do make great pets. Wildwood is a celebration of how life propagates itself and the new relationships we form to its many iterations.
All images copyright Zoe Friedman