grass/roots, Rena L. Detrixhe

Artwork Overview

grass/roots, 2018
Where object was made: United States
Material/technique: drying; pressing; handmade cotton paper; sprouted wheat
Credit line: Courtesy of the artist
Accession number: EL2018.143.a-l
Not on display

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Images

Label texts

The Power of Place: KU Alumni Artists

Rena L. Detrixhe is drawn to materials that retain stories from their original sources. The artist has said that she seeks a poetic understanding of time, material, history, and place, and her practice tries to reckon the human impact on and cultural relationships to the land. For grass/roots, Detrixhe planted wheat seeds in handmade, cotton paper and grew sprouts. She then dried and pressed the sprouts and their roots to display them as drawings rather than as a live-wheat installation. One row in the work shows the sprout side, while the other reveals the root side. The work invites the viewer to contemplate the lifecycle and history of a crop commonly associated with Kansas.

The Power of Place: KU Alumni Artists

Rena L. Detrixhe is drawn to materials that retain stories from their original sources. The artist has said that she seeks a poetic understanding of time, material, history, and place, and her practice tries to reckon the human impact on and cultural relationships to the land. For grass/roots, Detrixhe planted wheat seeds in handmade, cotton paper and grew sprouts. She then dried and pressed the sprouts and their roots to display them as drawings rather than as a live-wheat installation. One row in the work shows the sprout side, while the other reveals the root side. The work invites the viewer to contemplate the lifecycle and history of a crop commonly associated with Kansas.

Exhibitions

Resources

Audio

Listen to a poem by Megan Kaminski
Audio Tour - Power of Poetry
Listen to a poem by Megan Kaminski
Audio Tour - Power of Poetry