My dog is me, I’m the plants that I grow. The studio is a factory for disembodiment and re-embo- diment. The real work is in reanimation. Cherry stem ovaries, cast orchid jewels, a vocabulary, an index of feelings, metaphoric operants sown in the field. The gardener’s interconnected knowledge at play with the sculptor’s pursuit of the grid. Let’s continue living.

Terracotta is a life-sustaining medium. Some cultures eat it. Hands in clay, I think about Palaeolithic terracotta figurines buried underground and all of the history of clay. Charles Darwin had a fine col- lection of terracotta pots.

We compartmentalize the natural world and we showcase it. I wanted to exhibit a body of work bred for, always growing despite the times. A greenhouse collection of orchids cast in acrylic. Rarefied symbols, dichotomies glowing. The lightboxes in the exhibition frame cast specimens, they are signi- fiers projecting ideals, seed for tomorrow. Controlling genes is sick. Genetic expression is tolerated.

Jason Gomez

Photo: Marco Davolio