Ann Shelton, Plants and parts of plants, 12 June – 5 July 2025: Online catalogue

Three approaches anchor the early constructions in this body of work: the aerial, the earthbound, and the submerged. In this new iteration, additional elements appear—scorched arrangements, flames, and the body itself. Some works burn; others incorporate submerged or embracing human forms, emphasising the entangled relationship between plants and people. These additions intensify the series’ ritualistic and alchemical resonance, deepening its exploration of rupture, resistance, and survival.

Importantly, Shelton has begun cultivating many of the plants herself—from seed to harvest. This shift in practice introduces a durational, embodied dimension to the work. The unruly, leggy, sometimes decaying plants assert their own agency, defying the aesthetics of commercial plant growing practices. The process echoes that of photography itself—requiring time, patience, light, and a leap of faith.

Visually sumptuous and conceptually charged, 'Plants and parts of plants' continues Shelton’s commitment to feminist reappraisal, ecological awareness, and photographic precision. These works act as mnemonic devices, recalling knowledge displaced by Christianity and capitalism. They speak to the increasingly precarious global landscape in which bodily autonomy, care practices, and alternative knowledge systems are under threat—and ask what might still be recovered through attention, cultivation, and the radical act of growing.

A commissioned text by Heather Galbraith accompanies the exhibition, and we will host an artist talk and book signing for Ann’s book 'worm, root, wort,… & bane' at 4pm on Thursday 12 June.