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Exhibition

Root and Fruit – Sharing of home garden nostalgia

Shenshen Zheng

Image credit: Yusuf Ali Hayat

About the exhibition

By Shenshen Zheng

The Chinese proverb 一方水土養一方人 yīfāng shuǐtǔ yǎng yīfāng rén reflects the sentiment that people and place are intricately related; humans, and more than human, inhabitants are inflected by the soil and water that nourishes them. 

Root & Fruit has grown from nostalgia for my former homeland. Of childhood memories in my grandpa’s vegetable garden and the produce and food that has cultivated my cultural identity. Since arriving in Australia, I started my own vegetable garden and grew familiar vegetables to feed my family and share with friends. Living on Kaurna Country I am reminded of where I grew up and how I am now nurtured in relationships with worms, slugs, insects, earth, sun, and rain as I discover, collect, learn and continue to grow. 

Nexus Arts Gallery
25 July – 30 August 2024

Listen to Shenshen Zheng’s artist statement

Listen to Jamie Lewis’ catalogue essay

 

Video by Yusuf Ali Hayat

Catalogue essay

过客 (guò kè)[1]

Jamie Lewis

“橘生淮南则为橘，生于淮北则为枳，叶徒相似，其实味不同。 所以然者何？ 水土异也。” (Jú shēng huái nán zé wéi jú, shēng yú huái běi zé wéi zhī, yè tú xiāng sì, qí shí wèi bù tóng. suǒ yǐ rán zhě hé? shuǐ tǔ yì yě.)[2]

 

Migrants share a common exquisite balance of simultaneously longing for home and the joy of making one. We leave our home countries for myriads of reasons. For some of us, it is clear that we may never return. Often, it is unclear how long we might stay; this place may not be our last stop.

So whilst we are here, we consider the kind of guests we want to be. We consider who we are and what we bring with us. With this, we encounter this place as wholly as we can – a cultural negotiation of sorts – to learn how to be here; to learn who we become when we are here.

To do this, we render new rituals to what we find familiar, and let familiar rituals evolve – sometimes out of new interests, often out of pragmatic adaptation.

A big city kid now living in a house with a backyard opens up possibilities to draw on memories of her eating meals made with fresh produce grown from her grandfather’s village home garden.

Shenshen’s exploration that has led to the works in this exhibition reflects this process – of coming to know, of becoming, and all the things we learn in between. Working with soil, water, earth and clay – in both her gardening practice and in her artistic practice; and negotiating temperature and time through seasons – these are her collaborators, materials new to her, each with characteristics and temperaments of their own.

In working with soil, water, earth and clay, it can seem like the more you fail, the better you understand the materials in front of you. These materials reveal their varying capabilities, malleability and tenacity through the seasons; and you surrender to the uncertainty of outcomes. This is a kind of respect for the land and of nature. This is a kind of respect for the place.

You discover your growing perspectives, adaptability and resilience; and you surrender to the uncertainty of outcomes. This is the quiet work of establishing roots.

Whilst we are here, we also consider the kind of hosts we want to be. We consider who we are and what we may offer. For all we have gained, how do we share it?

The works in this exhibition grow and give: produce to be prepared and fed to visitors, sculptures to house the other inhabitants, and archives to the lives of different organisms. They have been created (in the act of making the artwork that we witness in the space), recreated (as you do on found or recycled material), or have been left to do its own creation (like seeds sown left to sprout and grow), and they have seen their own cycles of failure leading up to this season in the gallery. In this sense, these works capture a live-ness in real-time, of soil, water, earth and clay changing, shaping, seeding and growing; these artworks capture Shenshen’s evolving understanding of these materials in front of her.

一方水土养一方人 (yī fāng shuǐ tǔ yǎng yī fāng rén) translates to describe the way a person is nurtured by the place (soil and water) of where they grow up. When home is many places all at once, the real privilege is in the traversing of the myriad of lands and waterways on which we live, work and play. In this sense, these artworks capture a person in the act of becoming.

In these local conditions, what might the fruits she bear look, feel, smell or taste like? Will these conditions nourish her efforts, so that these fruits may ripen, flourish  and flower, to find another season of their own?

 

JAMIE LEWIS is a Singaporean-Australian artist, curator, dramaturg and facilitator. She creates and curates site-responsive performances that engage audiences as participants, and communities as artists; often through autobiographical stories, conversation and food

 

[1] Translates to mean a guest or a traveller

[2] Translates to mean that the same species of fruits can grow to be different things in different climate and environmental conditions

Read full essay +

Video Yusuf Ali Hayat

Meet the artists & curators

Shenshen Zheng is an emerging artist who has been living on Kaurna land for over 16 years. As a Chinese-Australian artist, Shenzhen finds inspiration from her roots and adopted home. Shenshen’s art is a reflection of the intricate dance between two worlds, a fusion of ancient tradition and contemporary influences. She explores the interconnectedness of culture, identity and belonging, and celebrates diversity through drawing, painting and installation.

Shenshen’s practice explores materiality. By using recycled and natural materials, such as cardboard, found every-day objects, plants and dirt, Shenshen investigates the complex relationship between humans and the natural environment.

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