Exhibition on view March 9th through May 25th 2024 with opening reception from 2-5pm on March 9th.
About the Exhibition
Systems of belief concerning the medicinal, magical and spiritual uses of plant materials were well established in the lives of European forest, nomadic and ancient peoples. However, these beliefs were forcibly supplanted as pagan practices were displaced across Europe and other continents in the wake of Christianity and the rise of capitalism. The consequences of the suppression and attempted erasure of this plant-based belief system continue to be profound. Knowledge, often held by women, of the healing and spiritual effects of plants has been replaced by a significantly more limited emphasis on their predominantly aesthetic qualities. This separation informs our contemporary relationship to plants as being primarily one of commodification.
The images in worm, root, wort…& bane are part of the re-assemblage of fragments of this old knowledge and, in their ontology, invoke the persecution of wise women, witches and wortcunners who kept this knowledge safe but whose understanding of plants and their
connection with reproduction, in particular, represented a threat to the new order. This body of work asks that we reconsider this complex nexus of lost understanding; that we re-examine the continuing persecution of women, their gender roles and physical bodies, and honour the position they have held in this long-contested space.
Worm, root, wort…& bane engages with botanical knowledge as a sphere in which politics have been played out then and now, continuing to effect Western attitudes to women, to nature and to privilege. Put in the context of ecopolitics and intersectional feminisms, the current environmental emergency and the many impacts of this high capitalist moment, these works signal a rupture that has taken place. This has distanced us economically and spiritually from our environment and ultimately led to our current crisis.
THIS EXHIBITION IS SUPPORTED BY the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Richmond County Savings Foundation, Ruth Foundation For the Arts, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
worm, root, wort… & bane is available for $24.99 USD from The Alice Austen House Museum (US) and $48 NZD from Rim Books (NZ).
worm, root, wort... & bane Book Launch
In conjunction with the exhibition, The Alice Austen House Press is thrilled to announce the release of worm, root, wort… & bane, a new artist book by Aotearoa New Zealand photographer Ann Shelton.
Part artist book and part scrapbook, photo book, quotography, and exhibition catalogue, worm, root, wort… & bane reassembles fragments of historical knowledge surrounding the medicinal, magical, and spiritual uses of plant materials — and the wise women, witches, and wortcunners who kept this knowledge safe. The book showcases this research alongside the first 19 artworks from i am an old phenomenon (2022-ongoing), a series of photographs of plant sculptures constructed by the artist.
Overflowing with 300+ images and quotations, this meticulously crafted book delves into the rich history of plant-centric belief systems, their suppression as Christianity spread and capitalism emerged in post-feudal Europe, and the estrangement between humans and the natural world that ensued. worm, root, wort… & bane situates us in this continuum, and points to the profound consequences of this rupture.
The book also features new essays by photographic curator Susan Bright and Victoria Munro, Executive Director of Alice Austen House, as well as The Three Fates, a short story by New Zealand writer Pip Adam, written in response to Ann Shelton’s research.
