Art Professor Challenges Viewers to Slow Down and Learn from Weeds

Through previous group exhibitions and a network of artists, she secured a solo exhibition at Stand4 Gallery and Community Arts Center in Brooklyn. The "Emergent Strategies: In Defense of Weeds" exhibition was supported by the Department of Art and Art History and the Isom Fellows Program and ran Jan. 18 through March 1.

"Given the state of accelerating climate change, perhaps we can learn metaphorically about weeds' ability to adapt, exist in harsh conditions and grow despite many obstacles," Fuqua said.

Weeds provide benefits such as diversifying ecosystems, having medicinal uses and providing a food source for other species, she said. Yet, many people spend a lot of money on harsh or toxic chemicals to get rid of them.

As one of the few people in her neighborhood who does not spray chemicals in her yard, Fuqua noticed a difference. For more than a year she observed, documented and researched parts of nature that included the weeds that grew in her yard.

She saw life return.

"Birds come because they have insects to eat," she said. "Butterflies have returned because they find a habitat to lay eggs on and a source of nectar. Eight different species of bees have returned to pollinate the food I grow."

Fuqua was inspired to create drawings of common unwanted plants such as dandelions and crabgrass in shades of bright oranges, pinks and yellows. She also composed photographs and collected objects such as dandelion seeds as part of her exhibition.

Her work and presentation filled viewers with a sense of awareness and wonder, said John Ros, director of studioELL in London and teacher at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston.

It created "a recognition of the overlooked beauty and significance embedded in what we dismiss as weeds," Ros said.

As an artist, Fuqua's works have explored the connection between chaos and control in the natural world.

"Her artwork speaks not only to the region, but as evidenced by her latest exhibition, to the larger questions of our society and its relationship to the natural world that surrounds us," said Michael Barnett, interim chair of the Ole Miss art department.

"This work brings considerable value to the department, the university and our wider culture, and the department is proud to support our excellent faculty in sharing their research and creativity with the global community of art enthusiasts and scholars."

Fuqua said she hopes her art persuades viewers to change how they interact with the natural world.

"Humans are not here to control the environment, but instead to learn that we are only one small piece in a wondrous ecosystem," she said.

Despite often being unwanted or considered a ruiner of pristine gardens, weeds can be seen as continuing to adapt, persevere and grow.

Fuqua, also director of the UM museum studies program, hopes people take time and notice how they are linked to the natural world

"By slowing down and closely observing what grows around us, we might see how our actions affect the many species, both flora and fauna, that coexist in the landscape," she said.

"A small act like letting weeds grow can have a huge impact, bringing life back to a barren environment."

Top: 'Dandelion' (left), a piece produced with acrylic and graphite on paper, is part of 'Emergent Strategies: In Defense of Weeds' by Ole Miss art professor Kariann Fuqua. The exhibition recently wrapped up a six-week run at Stand4 Gallery and Community Arts Center in Brooklyn, New York. Submitted photos