Edible Roots
Charcoal on paper. The Ruskin School of Art (2023 - ongoing)
Edible roots are bodies forming in the soil; right beneath the surface of the earth. They are nutritious bodies, just like ancestral roots. Just like ancestral roots, they are inevitably edible. I brought a collection of root plants to the studio and started observing them as they try to survive. Garlic roots grow fast and they soon took the shape of the plastic cup they were occupying. The celeriac sent down some thin threads to the bottom of the cup to reach out for some water.
Drawing the beetroot was a consoling process in a time of grief, I was barely touching the paper with my charcoal stick. I emailed Michael Godfrey, our college chef, and asked him for a root plant from his allotment at the college farm. He answered enthusiastically about a ‘glorious beetroot’ growing in the kitchen’s garden. I uprooted it myself, it was vibrant, warm and alive. I hung it with strings by the window and started drawing. I finished it over the course of three days. It was the first time I use charcoal since middle school.
