Culinary Plants Inspire Student Art Exhibit at Plantations Welcome Center

Students from associate professor of art Gregory Page's fall semester Introduction to Print Media class have an exhibition titled Mise en Place on display through April at the Cornell Plantations Brian C. Nevin Welcome Center. The subject matter of the lithographs, reliefs, and screen prints comes from culinary herbs that the students found on site visits to the Cornell Plantations.

"The students received lively tours as they researched and tasted crops, flowers, and herbs," says Page. The result is 26 prints "that present culinary plants and their diverse uses." Graduate assistant Diana Clarke (M.F.A. '17) wrote the colophon and came up with the name of the exhibition.

Guided by Antonio DiTommaso, professor of soil and crop sciences in agriculture, and teaching support specialist Kathleen Howard, the students first visited the International Crop and Weed Garden in the F.R. Newman Arboretum, where they observed grains, legumes, shrubs, flowers, and other crops from around the globe. Next, Gardener Pam Shade led them through collections of edible flowers, aromatic herbs, and other culinary plants in the Botanical Garden.

"There's something beautiful about coming to understand the crops and questions of agricultural happenings," says Laura-Bethia Campbell (B.F.A. '17), who used screen print and woodcut techniques for Chia, which she calls "a study of the dynamic culture of chia seeds." Daphany Shen (B.Arch. '17) used lithography plate and screen printing in her work. "Garnish consists of the herbs used as garnishes and condiments for taste, flavor, and presentation," she says.

Other students participating in the show include Edbert Cheng (B.Arch. '16), Ming Chi '17, Jaeyong Choi (B.F.A. '17), Walmir Da Luz (B.Arch. '16), Beatrice Goh (B.Arch. '17), Joon Ho Lee (B.F.A. '18), Relicque Lott (B.Arch. '16), Alexandra Plache (B.F.A. '18), Ji Yoon Rhee (B.F.A. '18), Sean Steed (B.Arch. '18), and Jay Yang (B.F.A. '18).

Page is a cofounder of the Ink Shop Printmaking Center/Olive Branch Press in Ithaca, New York.

By Patti Witten