Grass Roots

Steven L. Anderson: Grass Roots,  Oct. 4–27, 2018 at Day & Night Projects, Atlanta

The Grass Roots artworks continue my exploration of the forms and systems of plants—these pieces isolate normally unseen root structures and imagine them as dynamic flows of color and line with brush and pen, custom rubber stamps, air-blown ink and acrylic, and collage. They depict a perspective of nature that is always on the move—wandering freely, integrating and absorbing forms, working with and against the architecture of the modernist grid.

The imagery and ideas of Grass Roots reference from scientific illustrations; ponder rhizomes, tubers, & bulbs; envision natural forms intertwined with modernist structures. Grass Roots are disrupted by collage, but access the flow; they reach, strive for connection, for a way forward. They are metaphors for movement, for movements, for organizing ourselves; they reach back to a body of work from 2009, they stretch forward with new science. They form models for survival and flourishing during the ecocide of late capitalism.

Titles of the work comes from phrases found in a few books detailing new thinking about our relationship to nature (Donna J. Haraway’s “Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene,” Adrienne Maree Brown’s “Emergent Strategy”) and new science about trees’ relationships to each other (David George Haskell’s “The Songs of Trees”).



“We Are One Complete Allness,” 2018, marker and acrylic on paper mounted on canvas, 42in. x 32in.

“We Are One Complete Allness,” 2018, marker and acrylic on paper mounted on canvas, 42in. x 32in.

“Entangle,” 2018, gouache on paper mounted on canvas, 40in. x 30in.

“Entangle,” 2018, gouache on paper mounted on canvas, 40in. x 30in.

“Reciprocity and Solidarity,” 2018, marker and acrylic on paper mounted on canvas, 42in. x 28in.

“Reciprocity and Solidarity,” 2018, marker and acrylic on paper mounted on canvas, 42in. x 28in.

“Which Came First—the Forest or the Earth?” 2018, marker and pen on paper mounted on canvas, 40in. x 26in.

“Which Came First—the Forest or the Earth?” 2018, marker and pen on paper mounted on canvas, 40in. x 26in.

“Emergent Strategies,” 2018, marker, pen, ink, acrylic, collaged paper on panel, 40in. x 30in.

“Emergent Strategies,” 2018, marker, pen, ink, acrylic, collaged paper on panel, 40in. x 30in.

“Irresistible Revolution,” 2018, ink on muslin on panel, 48in. x 32in.

“Irresistible Revolution,” 2018, ink on muslin on panel, 48in. x 32in.

“Just Like a Flower, Only Stronger,” 2017, marker, ink, spray paint on paper mounted on panel, 36in. x 24in.

“Just Like a Flower, Only Stronger,” 2017, marker, ink, spray paint on paper mounted on panel, 36in. x 24in.

“The Cycle Between Past and Future,” 2018, ink, acrylic, collaged paper on panel, 72in. x 64in.

“The Cycle Between Past and Future,” 2018, ink, acrylic, collaged paper on panel, 72in. x 64in.

“What Other than Nature is Significant?,” 2018, marker and acrylic on paper mounted on canvas, 21in. x 17in.

“What Other than Nature is Significant?,” 2018, marker and acrylic on paper mounted on canvas, 21in. x 17in.

“Adkintuwe,” 2018, ink on paper mounted on canvas, 26in. x 16in.

“Adkintuwe,” 2018, ink on paper mounted on canvas, 26in. x 16in.

“The Memory of Light,” 2018, ink and pencil on paper mounted on canvas, 36in. x 32in.

“The Memory of Light,” 2018, ink and pencil on paper mounted on canvas, 36in. x 32in.

“This is Our Politics,” 2018, marker, ink, acrylic, collaged paper on panel, 64in. x 48in.

“This is Our Politics,” 2018, marker, ink, acrylic, collaged paper on panel, 64in. x 48in.

“Love is an Energy of Possibility,” 2018, ink, acrylic, collaged paper on panel, 64in. x 48in.

“Love is an Energy of Possibility,” 2018, ink, acrylic, collaged paper on panel, 64in. x 48in.

“Root Matrix,” 2018, drawings and laser prints, dimensions variable

“Root Matrix,” 2018, drawings and laser prints, dimensions variable



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