SECRET GARDEN

2003 | site-specific installation with: ficus benghalensis (banyan tree), soil/clay, cow dung, rainwater | Sanskriti Foundation, New Delhi, India

supported by: UNESCO-ASCHBERG Bursaries for Artists - International Fund for the Promotion of Culture, Sanskriti Foundation | special thanks: O. P. Jain, Nomita Dargan, Jaya Parthawk, Munnilal, gardeners of Sanskriti Kendra

 

 

In India, in early 2003, I created a site-specific installation for a young banyan tree. Banyan trees, like those seen in the Calcutta Botanical Garden can possess nearly 2,800 aerial roots measuring 330 meters (1,100 feet) in circumference. These roots suggested a metaphor for all the relationships in the world. The tree's branches, which grow perpendicular to the ground, slowly become roots. These columns grow, evoking awareness of links between two worlds, the earth and the heavens. I formed soil cones symbolizing the tree's future root growth and inviting the viewer to participate in these unfolding connections. My goal was not to intervene but to help the tree and to participate in its life. In a world where violence pervades, I felt a necessity to pronounce love towards the world. The creation of these column-connections felt essential not only to the tree's survival but to our own.

New Delhi, India, 2003
UNTITLED | 2003 | henna, milk, animal glue on indian handmade paper | 68 x 56 cm

GIFT

2003 | installation with nine seeds, created during a workshop on biodiversity | Navdanya's Bija Vidyapeeth, Dehradun, India

supported by: UNESCO-ASCHBERG Bursaries for Artists - International Fund for the Promotion of Culture, Sanskriti Foundation | special thanks: O. P. Jain, Nomita Dargan, Jaya Parthawk, Munnilal, Vandana Shiva