Native Flora Mural

Native Flora, Mural at Helen Schuler Nature Centre, Lethbridge, AB. 2024.

 

Artist Statement:

 

Botanical illustration has a rich history across cultures and around the world. Along with stories and knowledge of plants being passed down orally through generations, images of plants were also made as a way of sharing information about plant properties, such as uses for food, medicine, and material. Botanical illustration has existed long before book printing and can be seen in many forms (for example, petroglyphs and pictographs of plants can be found around the world). This provides great visual insight into the relationships people have with the plants around them.

 

Although botanical illustrations have been used by many peoples and cultures, due to a western bias it is often associated with European and colonial science paradigms. As European nations colonized the “new world,” they made records and botanical drawings of the plant species that were new to them, often without acknowledging the Indigenous names or existing knowledge of the plants. In recent times, botanical illustrations have been useful in promoting public interest in issues of plant diversity, conservation, and sustainability. As a way of learning about, from, and with the world and beings around you, botanical illustration can be done with greater respect to Indigenous ideologies in helping to share traditional ecological knowledge.

 

This mural at the Helen Schuler Nature Centre features botanical illustrations of plant species that are native to the local prairie and coulee environment. They are shown with their Blackfoot, English, and Latin names, recognizing the history and relationship that these plants have had with humans over time. It is the hope of the artist that members of the public spend time observing these plants, learn from them, and address them by their Indigenous names. This is a great way of building relationships with the species we share our world with, as well as a valuable action in the effort of decolonizing oneself and collective ways of thinking.