Roots

Velvet, gemstones, glass pearls, cotton strings, various sizes, (edition of 10), in collaboration with Leonie Falke, 2020

The mandrake, a nightshade plant has astounding roots which are formed similar to the human body. It's also infamous for its deadly scream emitted when threatened by being dug up. In the Middle Ages the mandrake root had a legendary reputation and could fetch horrendous prices. Since ancient times it has been used for magical potions, as a talisman and for fertility spells. Its most famous use is in the flying ointment of witches. Various poisonous, psychedelic nightshades were mixed with animal fat and then rubbed into the mucous membranes with the help of a broom stick or similar instrument. This potent psychedelic ointment made witches “fly”, helped them shape-shift into animals and send out curses. Mandrake was also used by the common folk as a talisman, that was kept in a box, equipped with precious little dresses and tenderly spoiled by its owner. Laid under the bed it was supposed to help with fertility. It was even said, that if taken in it could change a person’s sex. Often the mandrake was depicted as a human figure from which leaves and fruits are growing. To us the mandrake root is a symbol for an active, intelligent, sentient plant world, an idea that still today is often times questioned by popular science. Through its scream the mandrake becomes an active resistance fighter of the plant kingdom and thus, as a plant-human hybrid, calls into question original views of nature and our relationship with it.

The edition consists of 10 velvet objects enriched with gemstones and/or glass pearls and cotton cord root hair. Each root comes with a spell and a (real) mandrake seed, for you to put into the world or in a pot on your windowsill.

Artist edition by Leonie Falke and Rosanna Graf
Photography by Robert Hamacher
Last photo by Rosanna Graf

Back

Roots

Velvet, gemstones, glass pearls, cotton strings, various sizes, (edition of 10), in collaboration with Leonie Falke, 2020

Back