Gathering Moss

It's about moss, isn't it?

It's not just about moss.

Moss was the starting point.

And it's about the living network, the living, quiet architectural network that sustains human existence and that we are not even aware of.

So that's sort of the basis of that exhibition.

I think it was, well, a year ago, I was, I always listen to audio books when I paint and I have a vast range of books that I like, but I I love delving into biological and scientific works.

So I've read the book of Robin Kimmerer Ross.

The Gathering Moss was the book's name.

Robin is a botanist, a writer, and an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and she's arguably the figure most responsible for bringing indigenous forms of knowledge into mainstream conversation alongside Western science, and for making them accessible to the larger public.

Robin is the author of multiple books, including Gathering Moss and Braiding Sweetgrass, which became a beloved bestseller and was translated into 20 languages.

Her most recent bestselling book, The Serviceberry, looks at reciprocity in nature and the concept of a gift economy.

In this episode, Robin and I talk about how we came to view the natural world as property or a commodity rather than as a sacred space of community with other living beings.