Richmond BC, Canada #richmondartgallerybc
The Aberdeen Canada Line Station Art Wrap is presented in partnership with City of Richmond Public Art.
What emotions or memories can food unearth? What do our meals reveal about our sense of belonging, family and history? In Membranes and Pith 305 and Reverie 25, Vancouver-based multidisciplinary artist Cherry Archer utilizes the evocative powers of culinary plants deeply rooted in her Trinidadian heritage to create images that awaken memories of her family and culture. She freezes produce in water, creating a “botanical ice tile,” which she then illuminates with coloured light, photographs, and prints in large format.
The works evoke a dream-like, nostalgic quality through their translucent, luminous images, delicate lighting, and fluid compositions. Citrus fruits in Membranes and Pith 305 stir up the artist’s bittersweet feelings and memories of grieving the passing of her mother, mixed with the sensation of tasting for the first time an orange freshly picked by her grandmother from her garden. In Reverie 25, featuring layered onion skins frozen in blue ice, is Archer’s sincere attempt to preserve memories intertwined with family recipes orally passed down by her ailing mother; as she explains, “Almost every meal preparation began with peeling onions”.
Informed by ecopsychology, Cherry Archer’s work explores humanity’s relationship with and responsibility to nature. Her botanical ice tile photography is an ongoing project and has been exhibited in galleries throughout Metro Vancouver. Large-format images from the series appear in public art projects in Richmond, Surrey, and Ottawa. In 2022, Archer was nominated for the Prix Pictet, a Swiss-based international photography award focusing on sustainability.
– Maria Filipina Palad
