AHibbs

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My work explores the relationships of people and communities to the plant life that supports and surrounds us. I collect plant material from locations where it is overlooked or decayed: yard waste from the street, past-due food waste, or spent cemetery bouquets. All these provide rich material for studying how and what we use, value, and discard. 

Recent work looks into the dynamics of physical and psychological decay and renewal. Compost 'prints' are made by composting directly on top of synthetic paper. The resulting stains and smears record the decomposition process and vary depending on which plants were added to the pile and how long they sat. The process is largely beyond my control. Marks added before and after the composting process are there to augment the print, add another element of chance, and reference the vocabulary of abstract painting.

Since the advent of Covid-19, new photographic work documents yard waste in my San Jose neighborhood. The photos, taken during morning walks near my home and studio, are printed with the cyanotype process in my back yard, using the same solar energy that grows my subjects. Though they depict ejected and rejected materials, the debris piles better reflect the turmoil I feel during this period than the strangely symmetrical plantings and strictly edged lawns. If the well-kept yards are aspirational, the debris piles are the truth- decay, death, regeneration, wildness, and an accounting of our debt to and our distance from the natural world. They are rejected medicines.