Miami-based sculptor Robert Chambers lived in Everglades National Park for one month in 2018, as a Fellow in the Artist in Residence in Everglades (AIRIE) program. In the darkness outside his studio one night, the artist tripped on the roots of an ancient plant: The Saw Palmetto (in Latin, Serenoa repens), That’s when a hidden world began opening up to him.
In fact, the small palms are everywhere you look, native to the subtropical wilderness. The leaves are woven into the thatched roofs of indigenous pavilions you’ll find in Big Cypress, a wetlands preserve north of the national park. In some parts of the world, saw palmetto berries are cherished for their healing properties.
At the AIRIE Nest, an art gallery inside the Visitor Center, we meet Robert Chambers to explore his exhibition titled Serepens. AIRIE curator Deborah Mitchell and two environmental scientists who’ve inspired his new body of work are here, too. Botanist Warren Abrahamson has been researching the saw palmetto for forty years. Hilary Swain directs the Archbold Biological Station, a center dedicated to research and conservation in the South Florida watershed.
Sound Editor: Anamnesis Audio | Photography courtesy AIRIE and Fresh Art International
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- Saw Palmetto
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- Robert Chambers, Serepens detail
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- Saw palmetto research
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- Robert Chambers, Serepens installation detail
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- Saw palmetto research
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- Inside the AIRIE Nest
Related Episodes: Jenny Larsson on Searching for Arctic Winter, Deborah Mitchell: The Artist as Guide to the Everglades, Art and the Environment at Miami’s Deering Estate, Artist Residency in the Everglades, Jorge Menna Barreto on Environmental Sculpture, Andrea Bowers on Environmental Activism
Related Links: Artist in Residence in Everglades (AIRIE), Everglades National Park, Robert Chambers, Archbold Biological Station
[…] Episodes: Robert Chambers on Art, Ancient Plants and New Technologies, Gustavo Matamoros: Inside Miami’s Sound Chamber, Deborah Mitchell: The Artist as Guide to […]
No better person than Robert Chambers to meld Science and Art to promote curiosity of non-scientists to delve further into nature using Hi-Tech methods. Well done.
Thank you for listening. Yes, this is an important conversation.
[…] Episodes: Live from the Everglades, Part One, Robert Chambers on Art, Ancient Plants and New Technologies, Gustavo Matamoros: Inside Miami’s Sound Chamber, Deborah Mitchell: The Artist as Guide […]
[…] Episodes: Live from the Everglades, Part One, Robert Chambers on Art, Ancient Plants and New Technologies, Gustavo Matamoros: Inside Miami’s Sound Chamber, Deborah Mitchell: The Artist as Guide […]
[…] Robert Chambers on Art, Ancient Plants and New Technologies – At the AIRIE Nest, an art gallery inside the Visitor Center, we meet Robert Chambers to explore his exhibition titled Serepens. AIRIE curator Deborah Mitchell and two environmental scientists who’ve inspired his new body of work are here, too. Botanist Warren Abrahamson has been researching the saw palmetto for forty years. Hilary Swain directs the Archbold Biological Station, a center dedicated to research and conservation in the South Florida watershed. […]