Apr 19

Apr 19 Beauty in the Burn Pile

Written by Andra Belknap | Photography by Marc Alt

Natasha Wheat Gathers Materials from the Burn Pile — NATASHA WHEAT GATHERING AT TAFT GARDENS

“There’s some really great rotting stuff up here.”

It’s a sunny afternoon at the Taft Gardens after a fresh rain, and artist-in-residence Natasha Wheat is leading me to the burn pile. Wheat is close to the end of her nine-month artist’s residency at the gardens — part of Taft’s Art in Nature Program. She’ll exhibit her work, alongside live performances from fellow artists in residence, on May 6.

Wheat found artistic inspiration not in the garden itself, but in materials plucked from it. “It’s like a treasure chest,” she says as she leads me past the gardens in miraculous bloom to organic waste in great piles. One pile has an orange agave bloom growing at its apex — like a spire atop a church. All of the material — aside from what Wheat pulls out — is destined to be burned or mulched.

“This botanical garden is absolutely a utopia,” Wheat says. Yet, she observes that “manicured beauty relies on what we don’t see.” What intrigues her most are the items discarded from this utopia. She sees the burn piles as the space for the (literal) outcasts. So, since October, Wheat has circled the burn piles, searching for treasure. And when she finds an item to memorialize — she’s particularly taken with tropical plants — she brings it back to the studio, where she begins a process of spray painting, burning, and cutting an image of the discarded plant onto a piece of silk. In other works, she uses water plant pigment and pyrography to create layered compositions which document plants in relief.

Artist Natasha Wheat works in the Taft Residency Studio — NATASHA WHEAT IN THE STUDIO AT TAFT GARDENS

Wheat describes her work as “emancipatory aesthetics.” She’s interested in examining repressive systems — from those present in human society to the control she sees imposed on stewarded gardens — and observing (or imagining) what happens when those systems collapse. Her work reflects on the freedom inherent in the discard piles — Wheat calls the area “backstage” — and the (literal) growth that happens from within.

Wheat isn’t the only one fascinated by the burn piles. “[Natasha’s residency] also coincided with some projects that had sort of spurred serendipitously at the same time,” reflects Jaide Whitman, President and CEO of Taft Gardens and Nature Preserve. Using prescribed burns — a long-documented indigenous practice — to manage the 200-acre nature preserve is “one of our big far-off dreams,” she says. In 2019, Whitman took over management of the non-profit supporting the gardens. It was founded by her grandfather, John Taft, who can often be spotted cruising the property on a golf cart.

Wheat’s nine-month residency was defined by a historic rain season — the Ojai Valley received two times its average annual rainfall after years of drought. During her daily hikes, she began documenting the sounds of the preserve. What began as recording the sounds of scarcity shifted to documenting a rhythm of abundance in the Taft Preserve: a gently falling rain, a rushing river, a gurgling stream. In collaboration with local musicians Jim Fairchild (Modest Mouse, Grandaddy), Jesse Kees (This Will Destroy You, Super Ethereal Champion World), and others, Wheat created a sonic piece that mirrors the emotional experience of navigating drought and flood. It includes the sounds of human breath, yipping coyotes, and migrating cranes: all responding to their changing environment. This year’s abundance led Wheat to reflect on the water scarcity that is invariably in our collective future. “The piece is kind of a question,” she said, “wondering what we will yearn for in the future that we won’t hear anymore.”

Shana moulton in the fields — SHANA MOULTON

Sally England in the garden — SALLY ENGLAND

Cassandra C. Jones hugs a banksia tree — CASSANDRA C. JONES

In addition to Wheat’s work, the May 6 exhibition will feature live performances and interactive work by Shana Moulton, Sally England, Shelley Burgon, and residency co-founder (and its first artist in residence) Cassandra C. Jones. Their works are highly diverse: Moulton will perform live alongside an interactive video featuring an alter ego she’s developed over the past two decades: Cynthia. Her work — which is highly comedic — focuses on “that search for wellness, youth, physical comfort and spirituality in all things that we’re just — or I’m just — constantly searching for.”

Burgon, a harpist, will perform during the event, while England, a fiber artist, will also unveil new work inspired by the gardens. Jones — the self-described “art residency mom,” has created a graphic installation that will grace the garden’s bathrooms.

The Taft Gardens and Nature Preserve Art in Nature program offers several types of residencies; Ventura and Santa Barbara County-based artists who are interested can learn more here. Applications for the '2023-24 residency programs are due June 30.