Butler Gallery Garden Studio Residency – Christine Mackey

My practice is grounded in a unique creative methodology premised on seasonality and the use of organic materials drawn from my garden and the surrounding landscape. I work with biological systems that embody cycles of growth, maturity, transformation, and decay. These systems provide the framework and resources for a cyclical mode of working in which materials are continually regenerated and repurposed.

Seeds are collected and replanted, pigments are harvested, plants are woven into floating containers, and paper is made from discarded or weedy plant matter. My process also incorporates photo-based emulsions extracted directly from plants, as well as 16mm analogue films and prints that utilize the phenolic properties of plant materials. In these works, no camera is involved; instead, plants themselves act as agents of image-making. Alongside this, I continue to build an ongoing herbarium grown annually from seeds I collect, forming a living archive of place and time.

During the Butler Gallery Garden Studio Residency, I intend to continue and expand upon key elements of this body of work, developing them within a site-specific context that responds to the garden environment. Utilizing the resources and infrastructure of the Garden Studio, I aim to combine material experimentation with community engagement and environmental research. The project will address issues of climate change and ecological stress, with local conditions and narratives articulated through plant matter as both subject and medium. 

About the Artist