Bancadati

Bancadati is an archive of seeds built up over time and constantly evolving. The seeds are gathered in everyday life, as the seasons change and in the places I have visited over the years. Each one is different and unique, naturally rich in life and potential, and is a precious natural record of our plant heritage today.

Each specimen is paired with its reproduction, modelled by hand in clay as accurately and faithfully as possible, so as to capture the features, the marks, the essence that set it apart. While I portray it, each seed has an intimate span of time in which it comes to be known, and so recognised again on later walks.

In the act of gathering I try to turn my attention to a slower way of doing: leaving one's home and, through gathering, getting to know one's own places and finding one's bearings in them.

Bancadati holds within it the idea of biodiversity and the possibility of recreating the magic of life, but also the idea that a seed can become a symbol for the rebuilding of places and a landmark in the landscape.