germination residency + workshops--California Botanic Garden, Claremont, CA 2021
6/1/2021-5/1/2022
During his extended residency at the California Botanic Garden, fine artist Brandon Lomax explored the process of germination, guided by the expertise of the garden’s horticultural staff.
Working toward and throughout his (Re)place sculptural exhibition, Lomax discovered that seeds germinate and grow in wet clay. Though his unfired clay sculptures were not an ideal environment for plant growth, he experimented by infusing them with native seeds. This process catalyzed several areas of discovery for the artist. He was in awe of the seeds’ sheer determination to sprout and grow in the inhospitable environment. Once the clay works dried, the seeds lay dormant inside the sculptures until moisture breaks down the material, returning the seeds to the soil. Lomax sculpted and installed many unfired clay works infused with seeds to propagate as a sculptural statement of replacement.
“Creating a caricature of natural processes can help people remember to notice the magic of the biological world that is happening all around them,” Lomax said at the exhibition’s opening.
Lomax guided visitors in immersive community workshops to hand-build small, unfired sculptures to add the large-scale installation. By actively engaging public participants in the artist’s process, the exhibition grew by hundreds of unfired sculptures, which were also infused with seeds harvested from the site.
The unfired works, both made by the artist and by the public, then began their collaboration with the garden itself- the third and final contributor to the (Re)place exhibition. The elemental and seasonal changes brought forth during Winter and Spring transformed unfired works back into dirt, where native seeds sprouted and grew into mature plants, changing form, material, and landscape.
Lomax’s experimentation during his residency was an attempt to magnify the timeless cycle of (re)placement using his own visual language. The artist encourages viewers to experience the ordinary miracles in these natural cycles. Our own replacement is no more profound than seeds sprouting in soil. And someday, we too will be (re)placed.