About

My practice-based research explores how a diverse network of performative practices can converge as acts of decolonisation. To this end, my PhD interrogates notions of learning through the reconstruction of an auto-ethnographic narrative of encounters with a specific set of plants central to the ecology of my native Colombia. Through the consultation, interrogation and interaction with these and a number of related plants, my project aims to challenge and displace narratives at the heart of Colombia’s colonial history.

Espeletia and Plantago are prime examples of the unique ecosystem that comprises the páramo, a high mountain biome found in the north Andes of South America. During my PhD I have undertaken two research trips to encounter these plants in their native environment, making drawings, collating sound, video footage and further records relevant to the development of my project.

Central to this PhD, situated within the field of contemporary art practice, is the development of an innovative, experimental and multi-modal form of presentation which enables a polyphony of voices, gestures and utterances to manifest themselves in ways that mesh human and botanical agency. To achieve this, I have staged a series of events titled 'More than an Object, its Shadow' held at venues including the ICA and The Stanley Picker Gallery. At each event I have presented my findings re-enacting my botanical encounters, drawing on diverse sources including Mignolo’s (2018) decolonial thinking and Gagliano’s (2014) plant sentience.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and postponement of further research trips, virtual encounters including Zoom interviews with key artists and researchers became central to the development of apt forms of presenting my work to wide and diverse audiences. The remainder of my PhD will build on these developments to devise a submission format that challenges and expands existing notions of knowledge production and representation.