Botanica Colossi
For several years, Toronto artist Sara Angelucci has undertaken a close study of nature in an area surrounded by Crown Land in rural Ontario. Cloaked by the darkness of night, she ventures into the outdoors with a scanner to capture detailed ecologies of native plants entwined with cultivated and invasive species. Her luminous compositions of natural forms set against a black backdrop speak to the complicated histories inscribed in this evolving landscape.
Botanica Colossi includes a number of works from Angelucci’s recent Nocturnal Botanical Ontario series, which were created between the spring and fall of 2020. It brings into focus snippets of time, of the hidden, verdant and biodiverse world that exists below, at ground level. These are transient moments rarely seen by the human eye.
The examination of this wonderous world came from a need to contend with deep personal loss and grief. In search of solace and contemplative abandonment, Angelucci found a new and vibrant bionetwork replete with diverse species of insects and plants. In the wake of death, small organic forms emerge that remind us of the fragility yet persistence of life.
Explore Botanica Colossi
The power and value of plants, and our need for what they offer, are deeply embedded in Indigenous knowledge. Reading Indigenous botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer, I have come to value what grows around me, to understand the unique qualities of the plants I encounter, and to embrace my responsibility in their stewardship. In her book Braiding Sweetgrass, Wall Kimmerer writes, “Plants know how to make food and medicine from light and water, and then they give it away.” If we take time to look, these plants reveal themselves as unique, strange, and beautiful.
Ultimately, these images reflect the idea of memento mori - remember death. They are intended as a reminder of life’s brevity, and the need to see and protect the incredible life forms that grow at our very feet.
Scrambling to ground myself from the shock of my sister’s sudden death, I retreated into nature’s seasons to reconcile the cycles of life. In a state of raw grief, my consciousness awakened to mourning all species victim to climate change’s devasting impact. Scanning plants living in my proximity, layered histories emerged in the compositions. Native species grow entwined with foreign/cultivated and invasive ones, revealing deep colonial histories and ongoing commercial interests in the land.
Sara Angelucci
This presentation is organized in partnership with Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival and PAMA, 2021. The artist is grateful for the support of the Ontario Arts Council.
