The Garden of the Eaves
Death is the pinnacle of nature and yet we run from it. Humans have developed a superiority complex one of domination and power, a way to deny the inevitability of our end. Upon death we lose our bodily autonomy, returning to the earth, reminded of the nature of our flesh. We use too much, dig too deep. We exploit, we colonize, we destroy. We deny that we are animals. Yet we have the opportunity to participate in complex, involved relationships when we stop viewing “nature” as something apart from us, as objects or resources to be taken advantage of. By listening to the language of non-human beings, by learning from the intelligence of the insects and the dexterity of the spiders we can reconfigure our relationship with the earth and all its inhabitants. I monumentalize these tiny creatures. They are the backbone of the ecosystem. We must tend the garden. Feel small. Remove yourself from the pedestal we’ve built.
Bio
Eleanor Brown is a multimedia sculptor and painter who forages both materials and inspiration from the natural world. Excited by the unsettling and wild, she translates this fascination into sculptures of creatures that emerge from steel and foraged wood. As an artist who draws much of her practice from the earth, the climate crisis is an issue she addresses often, celebrating biodiversity and critiquing the destruction of natural habitats. When not in the studio, she can be found in the dark woods at night, sifting through rocks and sand on the beach, or searching her basement for insects and spiders.
