Christopher Carroll

Maine-based artist Christopher Carroll is concerned about plant autonomy, or the capacity of plants to assess, perceive, and act on their environment, and in doing so, generate the conditions for their own flourishing.

He regularly explores the plant life that surrounds his studio in rural Skowhegan, specifically those plants with a fabled and often symbiotic history with humans. Carroll’s photographs provide a way for him to visualize the location, folklore, and essence of local flora.

The series Viridis Genii is the result of his interest in animism, or the attribution of a soul to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena. The five photographs on view present Maine’s seasons. His laborious process begins in the natural world, where he selects a particular set of plants and then makes a proposition to each one. He ensures the plants are ethically and safely harvested; a gift or exchange is made to the remaining plant, and he never takes more than 20 percent of the living plant. The collected material is arranged on his studio floor, where it is then photographed with an elaborate apparatus. The resulting images are meticulous and superabundant arrangements that function as a documentation of regional flora and reference ideas found in Western/Northern European folkloric traditions, herbalism, and witchcraft.

“The process allows me to directly participate in, and in some small part, contribute to an older lineage of folklore, cunning traditions, and mythos of the human experience of the natural world. A natural world that is rapidly disappearing under the cruelty of human negligence and environmental ignorance. These plants are desperate for us to simply look at and acknowledge them, to remember our stories of them, and our shared history. Perhaps by doing so we can begin to realign our values in such a way that we don’t destroy each other.”

— Christopher Carroll

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Guest UserFebruary 11, 20222022 nat artist

Christopher Carroll

Maine-based artist Christopher Carroll is concerned about plant autonomy, or the capacity of plants to assess, perceive, and act on their environment, and in doing so, generate the conditions for their own flourishing.

Explore more artworks from North Atlantic Triennial

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Christopher Carroll

Maine-based artist Christopher Carroll is concerned about plant autonomy, or the capacity of plants to assess, perceive, and act on their environment, and in doing so, generate the conditions for their own flourishing.

Explore more artworks from North Atlantic Triennial

VISITEXHIBITIONSPROGRAMS & EVENTSPMA FILMSJOIN & GIVELearnWINSLOW HOMER STUDIO

Art For AllSustainabilityABOUT THE PMADonate OnlinePRESS ROOMANNUAL REPORTSPMA Recommends

Facility RentalBOARD OF TRUSTEEScareersDIRECTORYIMAGE SERVICESTerms of UseContact US

LOG IN: Staff | Docents | Trustees

VISIT
EXHIBITIONS
PROGRAMS & EVENTS
PMA FILMS
JOIN & GIVE
Learn
WINSLOW HOMER STUDIO

Art For All
Sustainability
ABOUT THE PMA
Donate Online
PRESS ROOM
ANNUAL REPORTS
PMA Recommends

Facility Rental
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
careers
DIRECTORY
IMAGE SERVICES
Terms of Use
Contact US