A Tree, A Garden :: Magali Duzant

A Tree, A Garden reflects on the many ways in which trees manifest into other things, from memorials and myths to memes, markers, and meeting points.The exhibition brings together two research projects that explore the place of trees in our understanding of the world. Inspired by trees found both in old-growth forests and on city streets, A Tree Grows in Queens incorporates a collection of written vignettes, archival images, and original photographs to explore how narratives of trees have touched on the larger topics of climate, capitalism, catastrophe, and compassion. The Dry Garden, an installation of cyanotype prints and a publication, is composed of reimagined archival material from herbaria, where plants are dried and stored for scientific purposes. The imagery transformed into shades of blue and white is influenced by Anna Atkins’ Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, the first book of photographs ever published. The work reconsiders archival histories and explores how narrative can act as a riposte to plant blindness, encouraging more empathetic relationships with our natural surroundings.

Bio:

Magali Duzant is an artist and writer whose practice is rooted in both research and process. She uses photography, writing, installation, and print ephemera to explore and communicate the ways in which we describe, inhabit, and share experiences on intimate scales both large and small. Her work has been widely exhibited, including at the Queens Museum (New York); Centre for Contemporary Photography (Melbourne, AU); Little Berlin (Philadelphia); UQO Gallery (Canada); the 2018 Mardin Biennial (Turkey); and Singapore Art Week 2021. Working within installation, print, and video she has completed commissioned public works for Memorial Sloan Kettering, Supercollider, ABC No Rio, and Artists Alliance Inc. She has published three artist books and is based in New York and Zürich.

A Tree, A Garden