Eto Otitigbe

Situations, Specifics, Attenuation (2015)

Situations, Specifics, Attenuation used a particular plant species as the inspiration for a new body of work. This project was conceived and exhibited at Wave Hill in the Bronx, NY. While in residency there I came across a beautiful and peculiar looking plant, Haworthia Tessellata, which I photographed at Wave Hill’s Conservatory. The plant’s mosaic leaf patterns reminded me of digital technology—like pixels or matrices. As I researched the plant species I learned that they were native to Southern Africa, and a series of events brought them to the Bronx where they became “American-African.” I processed the plant images using various software algorithms to create sculpture and eventually animation as a way of representing the complexities involved in contemporary African migration and border crossing.