Systems of belief concerning the medicinal, magical and spiritual uses of plant materials were well established in the lives of European forest, nomadic and ancient peoples. However, these beliefs were forcibly supplanted as pagan practices were displaced across Europe and other continents in the wake of Christianity and the rise of capitalism. The consequences of the suppression and attempted erasure of this plant-based belief system continue to be profound. Knowledge, often held by women, of the healing and spiritual effects of plants has been replaced by a significantly more limited emphasis on their predominantly aesthetic qualities. This separation informs our contemporary relationship to plants as being primarily one of commodification.

The images in ‘i am an old phenomenon’ are part of the re-assemblage of fragments of this old knowledge and, in their ontology, invoke the persecution of wise women, witches and wortcunners who kept this knowledge safe but whose understanding of plants and their connection with reproduction, in particular, represented a threat to the new order. This body of work asks that we reconsider this complex nexus of lost understanding; that we re-examine the continuing persecution of women, their gender roles and physical bodies, and honour the position they have held in this long-contested space.

‘i am an old phenomenon’ engages with botanical knowledge as a sphere in which politics have been played out then and now, continuing to effect Western attitudes to women, to nature and to privilege. Put in the context of ecopolitics and intersectional feminisms, the current environmental emergency and the many impacts of this high capitalist moment, these works signal a rupture that has taken place. This has distanced us economically and spiritually from our environment and ultimately led to our current crisis.

Shelton’s images attempt to connect us again with the plant arena through the use of dirt, roots, fungi and a clay, water and forest pallet. One group of images is bisected by the horizon line that forms the witches’ work bench or windowsill, while horizontally marking the division between the earth and the sea or sky. In another grouping of images, plants and herbs associated with these long histories are suspended, over weeks and months, in the medium of water to the point of decay. These works are made using methods not dissimilar to the processes involved in the making of teas, tonics, tinctures, infusions, macerations and decoctions used for medical healing. Like wading deep below the surface of a swamp or contemplating the watery grave of a witch, they are also emblematic of underworlds, debased knowledge and rotting thought. In these underwater works plants breach the edge of the frame and seemingly expand their explosive impact and legacy.

Other images feature suspended plant material referencing the phenomena of the flying witch and the practice of hanging, another means by which the lives of women accused of witchcraft were physically extinguished. They signal the deep abysses of lost worlds, but they also connect us to these historical focal points, to moments that highlight and signal the subjection of women’s gender roles and physical bodies.

‘i am an old phenomenon’ casts Shelton in the roles of artist, gardener, forager, and researcher. Shelton constructs all her plant assemblages and increasingly grows many of her own plants.

This new body of work is set both against the backdop of increasing exposure of misogyny globally and also the ‘Witches of Scotland’ campaign for legal pardons and historic justice for women convicted of witchcraft and executed in Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Bio

Ann Shelton is recognised as one of New Zealand\'s leading photographic artists. Her large‑scale images investigate the social, political and historical contexts that inform readings of nature. Built on foundations of deep research, Shelton’s practice challenges the traditional convention of photography that what you see is the subject – in her work what is visually absent is as important as what is present.

Shelton has an MFA from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. She lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, and exhibits internationally. She is Honorary Research Fellow in Photography at Whiti o Rehua, School of Art, Massey University, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa.