How like a leaf I am
In ‘How like a leaf I am’ Alexandra Baumgartner explores seeds as cultural heritage and common good – a resource shaped and handed down through generations by both human and non-human influences. Observing, selecting, nurturing, protecting, tasting, sorting, storing, exchanging and reseeding are the driving forces behind the diversity of cultivated plants. Wandering through the gardens of private seed keepers and visiting state and community-run seed banks, Baumgartner collects encounters and stories shared around seeds that are meticulously preserved for the future. To think seeds is to think in cycles. A seed is simultaneously all the plants that have grown before and all those that will follow. In the cultivated plant lies the embodied relationship between humans and nature.
Convinced that only an emotional bond with the plant world can spark transformative change, Baumgartner’s work reflects a quest to conspire with plants. Oscillating between intensive research and introspective observation, ‘How like a leaf I am’ portrays gestures of resistance against the ongoing loss of cultivated biodiversity.
Alexandra Baumgartner (b. 1991, Zurich) is a Swiss-Italian visual artist based in Biel/Bienne. Embracing her subject’s complexity, Baumgartner uses various forms of storytelling while building on photography as a key tool within her research-led practice. Her latest works expand on sound, gardening, sculpture, public walks and food in response to a multifaceted world of intra-actions between plants and humans. Exploring the ambiguous relationships towards what is commonly referred to as “nature”, Alexandra navigates between the emotional and political realms of agro-biodiversity loss, resource management, conservation strategies, food and knowledge production. Alexandra often collaborates with activist and practitioners on the ground and focuses on the development of long-term projects. Alexandra Baumgartner received her BA in Camera Arts from the Lucerne School of Art and Design in 2019 and has studied Middle Eastern Studies and Modern History. She is currently studying for her MA in Social Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Bern. In 2023 Alexandra Baumgartner initiated SEED CARRIERS an audio documentary project on cultivated biodiversity.
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Contact
Awards
- 2020Finalist Prix Photoforum 2020. Switzerland.
- 2019runner-up UNSEEN dummy award
- 2018Finalist 22nd vfg Prize for Young Talents
Exhibitions
- 2024«How like a leaf I am», Photoforum Pasquart, Biel/Bienne.
- 2023«How like a leaf I am», Aterraterra LAB, Palermo.
- 2022Groupshow, Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg.
- 2021«Der Garten», artistic research, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg.
- «How like a leaf I am», Club 44, La Chaux-de-Fonds.
- «bread eaters chapter 1: Das Fundstück», Keinraum, Lucerne.
- Groupshow, Prix Photoforum 2020, Photoforum Pasquart, Biel/Bienne
- 2020Plat(t)form 2020, Fotomuseum Winterthur.
Awards
- 2020Finalist Prix Photoforum 2020. Switzerland.
- 2019runner-up UNSEEN dummy award
- 2018Finalist 22nd vfg Prize for Young Talents
Exhibitions
- 2024«How like a leaf I am», Photoforum Pasquart, Biel/Bienne.
- 2023«How like a leaf I am», Aterraterra LAB, Palermo.
- 2022Groupshow, Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg.
- 2021«Der Garten», artistic research, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg.
- «How like a leaf I am», Club 44, La Chaux-de-Fonds.
- «bread eaters chapter 1: Das Fundstück», Keinraum, Lucerne.
- Groupshow, Prix Photoforum 2020, Photoforum Pasquart, Biel/Bienne
- 2020Plat(t)form 2020, Fotomuseum Winterthur.