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A Canopy of Briars: Visual Considerations on Reclaiming the Land

Introduction to the exhibit:  Traveled from UO Natural History Museum to UCC Gallery and to Rogue Valley Art Center, Medford.

Since returning to my family ranch in Yoncalla, Oregon a little in 2000, I have been working to reclaim the riparian areas along the creek, meadows and pastures, from the encroaching blackberries and other invasive alien plant species. Three summers ago, my partner and I began attacking a 15 to 20 foot high massive wall of blackberries in a five acre area my family had dubbed “Fairyland” because of the ancient oaks and maples whose giant arms held sway over an astonishing array of wildflowers blanketing the forest floor. With tractor, weed-eater, loppers, and chainsaw we cleared land I hadn’t seen since I was thirteen years old when the blackberries began to take over any space with enough light for them to thrive.

On my tractor or with loppers in hand, I began to feel more like a sculptor than a weed whacker —this land-clearing effort was more akin to art than agriculture (or wildlife habitat improvement which was the program I was working with through the Farm Service Agency). With the removal of thorny vine and the dense spiny leaves of blackberries there existed the remains of a world suffocated from light and space.

Hidden beneath the dark canopy of briars, there emerged the struggling ferns, chlorophyll deprived foliage of bleeding heart, colts foot and trillium. The contours of the ground I had once known was there to see and walk freely upon: contours whose shape and form had also been suppressed by the canopy of impenetrable thorns. 

I found meaning beyond the task at hand. Metaphors began popping into my mind,from the mundane to the sublime, with thoughts such as: shining the light into darkness; replacing chaos with order; releasing the suppressed from the tyranny of the aggressor; …of losing ground, or gaining ground, or being able to stand my ground!! In the process of creating this show, I have documented the plants, playing with the theme through referencing other artists' work, tried working in mediums such as collage and digital creations, rehabilitated old picture frames, which needed resurrection, and considered this expression a kind of celebration. I played, had fun and gave the project of landscape restoration an interpretive dimension.