Work – Lauren Barbieri

SELECTED EPHEMERAL WORK

Spiraling Green

| milkweed leaves, white pine stump | 2020
Childhood Play

| lichen on bark, milkweed pods, moss, yew berries, white pine stump | 2019
Late Winter Floral II

| blackberry canes, iris seed pods, aged asparagus stalks, white pine stump | 2024
Connected

| burdock burrs, white pine stump | 2024
Winter Floral

| snow, white pine stump | 2021
Buttercup Spiral

| buttercup buds and blossoms, white pine stump | 2020
Medicinal-Edibles

| yew berries, common plantain, purslane, dandelion, Japanese knotweed, white pine stump | 2019
Spiraling Hearts

| morning glory leaves, white pine stump | 2021
Winter Floral II

| snow, white pine stump | 2021
Brilliant ROY

| yew berries, maple leaves, white pine stump | 2019
Rainbow Spiral

| chrysanthemums, rose of sharon blooms, zinnias, Aronia berries, Monarda leaves, garlic chives, Amsonia leaves, mouse-ear hawkweed, black-eyed Susans, Mexican sunflowers, marigolds, Chinese lanterns, white pine stump | 2020
Fall Starburst

| iris and Amsonia leaves, white pine stump | 2020
Late Winter Floral

| Monarda seed pods, found branches, primrose stalks, white pine stump | 2024
Dormant

| snow, white pine stump | 2019
Circle of Life

| garlic chive seedhead, day lily stalks, Aronia leaves, white pine stump | 2019

This work incorporates cultivated and found natural materials to explore plants and their many offerings to individuals and communities. I have created these designs with an eye to the beauty inherent in the materials and an appreciation for the personal sense of well-being found in slowing down and interacting with elements external to the man-made, built world.

I am inspired by the intricate web of life that encompasses us as well as the design possibilities the natural elements offer: an organic line in the curve of a leaf or stem; a full color palette of vibrant and muted hues in a bloom, berry, or branch; and the spiraling swirls of an unfurling bud or tendril. I created these designs at the site of a beloved, felled tree using plants I grew and collected. Some of the plants, such as the milkweed pods and yew berries that enchanted my childhood play, hold special significance for me. Other materials captivate me with their connection to pollinators, ever-evolving forms during their growth cycle, and offerings of nutrition and healing.

My process is spontaneous, meditative, and immersed in my garden, the patch of earth that I tend most closely. I gather leaves, stalks, blossoms, branches, and other materials, reflecting on their unique properties. I create circular and radial designs that echo the rings of the tree stump and evoke cycles of life and a sense of balance and wholeness.

A deep vein of gratitude for plants and the multitude of roles they hold in our ecosystems and individual lives flows into this work. I share it with admiration for the vibrancy of the natural world, with its impermanence and cycles of regrowth and restoration. I also extend an invitation for viewers to examine their own appreciation for nature: the ways in which they know and live in accord with it, the beauty they find in natural aesthetics, and the inherent value they assign to the natural world and its sanctity, as the foundation for life on our planet. Yet, this work was created with a playful spirit and I hope it touches a light place in viewers as well.