In the last century, botanical illustrations were largely reproduced through lithographic printing. Scientific knowledge was replicated and transmitted mainly through this technology. Similarly, “plant hunters” on botanical expeditions amassed seeds and brought them back to their homeland for cultivation, thereby creating new resources through the process of introducing and replicating new varieties.

This commission from Long March Space Independent Project, exhibits 8 illustrations of plants growing on the fringes of Southern Yunnan, carefully selected by the curator and Plant South Salesroom: cinchona, turmeric, nutmeg, rubber, tobacco, horsfieldia, konjac, and rhododendron. For each of these plants, an illustration was pulled from an archive and transferred onto a printing plate using a photochemical process. In offset printing, the printing plate – akin to the stone used in lithographs – is typically the first step in transferring images onto rubber blankets (also made from the aforementioned rubber plant). The result consists of eight blue monochrome botanical illustrations printed onto large, poster-like grey metallic sheets. Each illustration is positioned to mirror a “printing result sheet” – a compilation of all the illustrations printed on the same sheet of paper on which the flowers, in full colour, slightly overlap. The plates and the sheet of paper are scattered on the 4 walls of the gallery where no other works are displayed. Visitors of the gallery can pick up the sheets and bring them home. The thinking behind this gesture aims to metaphorically represent the processes of production, reproduction, and dissemination but also serves to underscore the historical context of the exhibition. Expeditionary Botanics is curated by Dai Xiyun and research commission by the Plant South Salesroom.

A Page from the Garden, 2024
Offset printing plates, 8 plates, 80 × 103 cm