Artist Statement

My video for project 1 changed completely from when I first began to do my initial sketches until now. I was inspired when I was visiting the Brooklyn Museum two weekends ago and decided to take a walk through the Botanic Garden next door. What I found on my walk through wasn’t exactly what I would normally think of when I think of a garden, but as it was the off season I didn’t expect to see much of interest. But I was still intrigued by what I saw there as I began to recognize the garden as an oasis of the natural world placed right in the middle of a big city. Featured next to the plants were images of what they looked like in full bloom, and the comparison between those pictures and their current states were a sad yet somewhat funny sight to see. My video featured comparisons between the two different versions of the plants mixed in with shots of the giant manmade structures that surrounded the glade in the concrete jungle. These comparisons are meant to represent a look back on what once was – not just what was before the winter, but what may have been before New York City sprung up in the middle of what had previously been sprawling forests and fields. That little garden in Prospect Park is one of the last glimpses of what the world was like before cities, and reflecting on that filled me with different emotions that I tried to capture in my project. Hope you enjoy!