Concerning the Cultivation of Calendula

Image: Stephanie Doddridge, They Flash Upon the Inward Eye (detail), 2024, unique state vegetal print and monoprint on rag paper, 47 x 56 cm. Image courtesy the artist. 

Concerning the Cultivation of Calendula  
Stephanie Doddridge 

12 August  – 8 November 2024

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Stephanie Doddridge is an emerging contemporary artist working on Kaurna Country, South Australia. Stephanie takes an autobiographical approach to art making, reflecting on memories and emotions and representing them through multidisciplinary practice. She is drawn to gardens and their produce, which have the potential to hold memories and a sense of nostalgia. Stephanie uses garden produce as materials to investigate symbiotic human/nature relationships, engaging with metaphors and notions of reciprocal care, through printmaking, ceramic, textile and sculptural production methods.   

Concerning the Cultivation of Calendula considered the restorative nature of cultivating gardens through printmaking. Experiences of reciprocal nurture in gardens are drawn from via the use of medicinal herbage and materials.   

This exhibition drew upon well-established knowledge of the restorative powers of both art and nature, which could provide a sense of nurture and solace in times of healing. Gardening could provide a feeling of reciprocal care, where invested time and labour yields both wellness and ecological function.    

This exhibition was part of SALA Festival