- Fairbanks, June 23, 2024
During the visit to Fairbanks, the MUST project team led by Vera Kuklina collaborated with Kelsey Aho, the Alaskan artist who organized a workshop “Getting to know local plants using clay.”
OneTree Alaska space gallery is generously provided by Professor Jan Dawe. Multiple creative works in this space already give insights into how artists perceive and represent plants. Among the participants were both MUST team members and Fairbanksans of different ethnicities, ages and occupations.
Diana Khaziakhmetova: I had never participated in a clay workshop, so this experience was truly amazing. The OneTree Alaska space was the perfect setting, filled with scientific and artistic artifacts celebrating nature at every turn. I especially appreciated the grounding aspect of the workshop, held on the land of Fairbanks: we used local clay, leaves, flowers, and tree sticks, which made the experience even more meaningful. The Sunday workshop was calming and relaxing, helping me recharge for the busy week ahead, filled with meetings, interviews, and events.
Participants learned how to sculpt with clay. In Alaska, clay can be obtained locally which provides an opportunity to learn about the geology of the area. Participants identified local plants they wanted to get to know better. Then they sketched how they wanted the hand built piece to look before sinking their fingers into the clay. In the process, the MUST team had a chance to learn, and locals – to deepen their knowledge of local plants: how the leaves are shaped, how they gather and transport water to their roots, what is their significance for landscapes, pollinators, animals, and humans.
This creative work was also an opportunity to get to know each other better on the personal level, and to learn from each other: share thoughts and ideas in the process of creation of objects.
The last but not least important fact is that these ceramic versions of local plants are smaller redemptions of clay leaves being installed at the botanical garden, and will be connected to the permanent installation by Kelsey Aho: https://geoart.work/water-leaves/
The “Water Leaves” project by Kelsey Aho relies on biomimicry to improve irrigation and soil moisture for a drying interior Alaska. Here’s a simple rendering of how the “Water leaves” project could make gardening more sustainable and viable in the boreal forest:
Photos by Kelsey Aho, Vera Kuklina, Stanislav Ksenofontov, and Diana Khaziakhmetova