Touch me not,

Forget me not

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(2023)

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The human fingers on Mimosa leaves make them curl, withdraw. Their name relates to shame, shyness and
resembling. An organism with flexing muscles also called Touch me not. They briefly recall a name they once had
before,Touch me not. Another plant, Myosotis or Forget me not, works well against muscle pain. The muscle memory
of its root lingers and reverberates through subtle shivers on its petals for generations. They briefly remember a
name they once had before, Forget me not.

 

The quilts consist of silkscreen prints of photographs taken in botanical gardens in Lisbon and depictions

of the human body in contexts of care, combined with embroidery, jute and fabrics dyed with spices, fruits and plants.

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The title alludes to two plants extracted from their natural habitat, named Mimosa and Myosotis, also known as Touch Me Not and Forget Me Not. These plants are featured in the book Systema Naturae, written by Carl Linnaeus in 1735, where he classified species, plants, and minerals into gender, location, and Latin name. The work explores the interplay between colonial history, botany and identity, and aims to reflect on how nature historically has been treated as a passive backdrop to human events, depicted in paintings and tapestries before the advent of photography. Both tapestries and quilts are age-old human, tangible means of artistic expression and storytelling. A rhythmic pulse is echoed on the wrist as well as in the cosmos. Plants and spines grow in unforeseen directions, revealing subtle hints of human animality and sensuality, while the hegemonic pose is still present.

 

The shapeable material of the quilt symbolises both comfort and protection for the body, similar to a blanket. It can also be seen as a performative backdrop in which the viewer becomes a participating actor. Are we the protagonists in this scenario?

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