Perfect Mason

2018 and ongoing

Perfect Mason features native Southern California plants that serve as crucial sources of food for various species of Southern California butterflies.  

With a nod to Dutch Still Life painting, I set up plant cuttings in simple American Mason jars and photographed them on my kitchen counter during the hour before sunset.  The Mason jar serves as a nod to canning food grown in home gardens, as well as, to the idea that native plants serve as building blocks for conservation and preservation of at-risk natural habitats. Butterflies and many other insects are currently experiencing rapid declines in their populations. These declines are thought to be the result of pesticides, air pollution, disappearing plants that support butterflies, in addition to severe weather events.  

Declines in native flora and fauna became all the more pressing when, shortly before my year-long residency at the Theodore Payne Foundation, the La Tuna Fire came far too close to the Foundation and the subsequent Creek Fire burned my childhood neighborhood. With massive amounts of local habitat burned and so many species at risk, it was hard to choose what to focus on. Because they are essential to the food chain, I began looking at plants that support insects. Where many insects can be seen as pests, the butterfly remains a beautiful pollinator of life. After sending the photographs to the framer, I learned the butterfly is a traditional symbol for the soul, immortality, rebirth, and resurrection. 

The Artist-in-Residence exhibition at the Theodore Payne Foundation in 2018 is dedicated to the memory of Sean Francis Early who gave so much including many jars of preserves.