Kelda Van Patten
Artist Statement
This series of photographs, Nature Inside, references a quarantine-driven rise in houseplant sales and interest in indoor gardening to consider how domestic horticulture helps us process lived trauma. Acts of concealment and obfuscation are revealed in consideration of the relationship between indoor gardening and eco-trauma. A sense of whimsy paints a subtle picture of loss, isolation, and containment. My photographs fall under the genre of still life. They sometimes nod to 17th century Dutch still life paintings by provoking symbolic readings of the Vanitas and Memento Mori, which both reference the fragility of life. I allude to the process of the photographic medium by incorporating the lights, cords, and gels into the compositions. The focal point in this series is luminous, sometimes glowing, sometimes aging, lush green, brown, and yellow-green plants. Background colors and forms frequently relate to the stereotypically feminine, such as glittery pink tape, deep red artificial cherries, flashes of hot pink light, and layers of bright purple construction paper. I subvert these colors with folded, torn, and cut-up layers of nostalgic dusty rose velvet, deep dark shadows, and bits of blood red. These hues represent the psychological, emotional, and corporeal expressions of eco-trauma, juxtaposing the overly saturated hues that bring to mind the toxic cheeriness of trendy mass-market design, which is so often digitally enhanced with intent to conceal.
Kelda Van Patten | Portland, OR