Echoes In The Ferns
by Michelle Bardino VelaEchoes in the Ferns is inspired by my childhood growing up in Florida—memories of exploring the outdoors and looking through archival family photographs. Observing cycles of life through both images and nature is at the root of these cyanotypes.I collaborated with family, friends, and fellow artists, asking them to share photographs that are significant to them and capture a feeling of life in Florida. In many of these images, people are surrounded by the foliage of mangroves, ferns, bald cypress trees, and palms. I also gathered native ferns and magnolias during trail walks and blooms grown from seeds in my garden. By layering the photographs with pressed flora, the memories became fragmented and dreamlike. The Florida landscape acts as a connective thread, weaving together shared histories.
My hope is that the work brings joy in the act of discovery and a sense of reverence for the life of the plants and the memories hidden within them.
I am grateful to the people who contributed in creating this zine with their beautiful photographs:
-Edie Angela Fuertes
Tina VanZwol
Shirley Chong
Melina Valdez
Katia Ribeyro
Dona Ribeyro
Alejandra Mejia
Alex Del Canto
Melanie Metz
Les Gomez-Gonzalez
Johanna Altamirano
Daniela Reiley
Dasha Canfield
As well as the ferns and flowers in this artwork:
-Southern Maidenhair Fern Adiatum capillusveneris
-Southern Shield Fern Thelypteris kunthii
-Butterfly Weed Asclepius tuberosa
-Geiger Tree Cordia sebestena
-Godetia Clarkia amoena
-Lanceleaf Coreopsis Coreopsis lanceolata
-Southern Magnolia Magnolia grandiflora
-Carolina Jessamine Gelsemium Sempervirens
-Dipladenia Mandevilla spp.
-Plains Coreopsis Coreopsis tintoria
-Rose Mallow Malva trimestris
Bio:Michelle Bardino Vela (b. 1995) is a Peruvian-American interdisciplinary artist and photographer. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a focus in photography and sculpture from Florida International University in Miami, FL. Her work explores themes about the cycles within the natural world and the changes that occur in memories over time. She explores these concepts through materials such as fibers, clay, photographic processes, and papermaking.
Her work has been exhibited in the United States and internationally, including the Soho Photo Gallery in NYC, the Maryland Federation for the Arts, and Mellipiani Exhibition Space in Rome. She was an artist in residence at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in Otis, OR during the spring of 2022.
https://www.michellevela.com/
@michellevela.studio
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