15 images Created 12 Jun 2023
Contingent Existence
Contingent Existence is a place-based, environmentally themed, collaborative project.
I approached naturalist and environmental educator, Jeanette Henderson, to collaborate on a new project idea. Henderson identified and sourced local non-native species and created floral arrangements that I transformed into photographic images inspired by Northern Renaissance still life paintings.
During the Renaissance, the discovery of new continents shifted the European perspective. Plant and animal specimens were collected through increased trade across oceans and entire continents. There was a fascination with the unusual and exotic, and an interest in leveraging plants for medicinal use and economic opportunity. The Northern Renaissance still life paintings often had allegories of mortality (skulls, candles, and hourglasses) and morality (the futility of earthly pleasures). The presence of nature enforced that life passes away – flowers wither, birds die.
The non-native species in Contingent Existence were intentionally brought to North America to fulfill aesthetic, medicinal, culinary, and landscaping needs—or unintentionally as stowaways in pots or ship ballasts. The existence of these specimens in Michigan are the result of human intervention. The project is about the migration of plants, insects, birds and sea creatures and how humans were responsible—due to their migrations and their intentional and unintentional acts.
Each photograph has a corresponding species list and notes that indicate origin and history of introduction to North America.
I approached naturalist and environmental educator, Jeanette Henderson, to collaborate on a new project idea. Henderson identified and sourced local non-native species and created floral arrangements that I transformed into photographic images inspired by Northern Renaissance still life paintings.
During the Renaissance, the discovery of new continents shifted the European perspective. Plant and animal specimens were collected through increased trade across oceans and entire continents. There was a fascination with the unusual and exotic, and an interest in leveraging plants for medicinal use and economic opportunity. The Northern Renaissance still life paintings often had allegories of mortality (skulls, candles, and hourglasses) and morality (the futility of earthly pleasures). The presence of nature enforced that life passes away – flowers wither, birds die.
The non-native species in Contingent Existence were intentionally brought to North America to fulfill aesthetic, medicinal, culinary, and landscaping needs—or unintentionally as stowaways in pots or ship ballasts. The existence of these specimens in Michigan are the result of human intervention. The project is about the migration of plants, insects, birds and sea creatures and how humans were responsible—due to their migrations and their intentional and unintentional acts.
Each photograph has a corresponding species list and notes that indicate origin and history of introduction to North America.
