Jyll Bradley (b. 1966, Folkestone; lives London) has often
focused upon people's complex relationships with plants as a way of
exploring ideas of connectivity and place. Bradley's works
typically combine photography (often presented in light-boxes),
text and sculptural elements. They are oblique cultural constructs
where the emotional meets the formal, both containing and
revealing the individual and collective human spirit.
The trip to the Galápagos in November 2008 was profoundly moving
for Bradley. She has said that she found its transparency
beguiling: 'Galápagos has a way of paring intentions… it affords no
shade, literally or metaphorically.' In Santa Cruz, she worked
closely with the Botany Department of the Charles Darwin Research
Station, following the work of their Native Gardening Project,
which aims to encourage the growing of native plant species - such
as Scalesia and Opuntia - instead of more spectacular
imports like Bougainvillea spectabilis and golden
trumpet. She accompanied a team visiting schools, local municipal
gardens and private homes, both providing and helping to
cultivate native plants. Bradley was fascinated by the paradox
of horticulture being mobilised to help save nature,
and reflected upon the fluid boundaries between gardening
and nature.
Bradley photographed her observations using a 5x4 field camera,
equipment which, in itself, slows down the act of looking. Her
resulting portraits of gardens and gardening show plants being
integrated modestly into the landscape by hand. They also indicate
the subtle human relations brought about through this shared
endeavour - an activity more often seen as a form of
solitary creative expression.