Bloom

On view behind the front desk at the columbia art league

Curatorial Statement

There are many answers to the question, what is a plant? A root system, a stem, a leaf, a pet, a child, a cultural zeitgeist (in the case of the ever-popular succulent and monstera plant). The function of the plant is murky. Historically, it could be summed up as a means of survival: cultivation of plants produces food, which sustains populations. But plants are easily influenced by their environments and the care taken towards them, which makes them so much more than a simple survival mechanism.

Vines grow wild in places abandoned by humans, wildflowers appear every spring in my local park. These plants are wild; we are taught to exist alongside them in awe and fear. Orchids are kept in pristine condition in nurseries all over the world, and my ancient aloe plant from high school still scrapes by in a plant stand by my living room window. These plants are tame; we live alongside them as friends. The aesthetic qualities of each are different, but we find beauty in both the cultivated bouquet at the florist and the feral English Ivy growing on the building outside.

Bloom attempts to explore these modes of beauty and our relationship to plants through the work of local artists Diane Chappell and Mzeona Iagorashvili. Both artists depict flora in ways that bridge the line between delicate and bold, the soft and the chaotic; in many ways, they depict the essence of the plants themselves. Through these artworks, we can begin to ponder how plants do not just help us survive,
but also help us thrive.

Curated by Bella Reed, Gallery Intern at CAL