Othello Ubalde IMAGE/IMAGINE(ING) A WILD GARDEN: Sara Angelucci in conversation with Charlie Briggs

In IMAGE/IMAGINE(ING) A WILD GARDEN, artist Sara Angelucci discusses her upcoming public installation Botanica Colossi at the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA) with horticulturalist & arborist Charlie Briggs. This talk is presented by PAMA.

In her project Nocturnal Botanical Ontario, Angelucci images plants which grow in the Pretty River Valley in Southern Ontario, an area surrounded by the Niagara escarpment and a provincial park. Her compositions of plants growing entwined uncover the ecological impacts of settler colonialism and global trade; forces which have wreaked havoc on the natural environment.

Deeply inspired by Indigenous botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer’s ideas of reciprocity, gratitude, and stewardship, Angelucci joins horticulturalist and arborist Charlie Briggs in a conversation about how we can positively contribute to our environment through our plant choices and landscape practises. While acknowledging the impacts we have had on the world through gardening and the globalization of plants, we can set a path forward that will support healthy ecosystems for generations.

Sara Angelucci is a Toronto-based artist working in photography, video, audio, and installation. Over the years her projects have drawn from a range of personal photographs and films—to anonymous and found images. Since 2013 her work has focused on our fraught relationship with the natural world, channeling personal and environmental grief. Angelucci is an Adjunct Professor in Photography at the School of Image Arts, Ryerson University.

Charlie Briggs is a horticulturist and arborist with Royal Botanical Gardens. He is passionate about helping gardeners and property owners make the most of their outdoor spaces and better understand the changes we can make to promote a more responsible and sustainable form of gardening.