Heather F. Wetzel: Considering the Cultivated

Considering the Cultivated consists of two bodies of work by Heather F. Wetzel: Salvage and Creeping, Climbing, both exploring the role humans have on the environment, ecosystems, and food production. Salvage investigates ideas of biodiversity, monocrop culture, genetically modified crops, and the science and controversy surrounding these topics, while Creeping, Climbing takes a close look at the beauty, usefulness, and destruction of kudzu, “the vine that ate the South.”

Wetzel’s work is grounded in contemplation of life in the 21st century and current social concerns, and uses a variety of materials and methods such as historic photographic processes, hand papermaking, book arts, metal, and wood. Guided by her interest in how process and materials contribute to art as an object, Wetzel works predominantly with analog processes and craft. Her work is equally concerned with the object, alternative methods of display, and how the chosen materials support concept and content.