Lag

FrontierSpace Gallery, Missoula MT, December 2017

Partially germinated Mucuna pruriens seeds in raw clay, cotton panels hand-dyed with locally sourced plant matter, pen drawings on paper, turmeric, sugar, dye, silk, fabric interfacing, wool, thread, graphite, wood, steel. Gallery kept at temperature below freezing. 21’7”x 9’2”

This piece references the lag phase of seed germination, in which the plant undergoes many important transformations allowing it to put forth a plumule and radicle (sprout and root), but none of these are apparent to the naked eye. In this piece, Mucuna pruriens seeds have been planted in balls of raw clay and allowed to progress 7-10 days in their germination process, at which point the dense and nutrient-weak nature of the clay thwarts further growth.

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Photos by Brock Mickelsen