Regina Krawets

"Entire social media feeds are devoted to ‘plant porn’ and references of ‘plant-moms’ and ‘plant-dads’ lavishing their ‘plant-babies’ with attention, feeding and engaging them in conversation. By establishing these pseudo-human relations with a material object are we fetishising the common house plant? Is our “irrational reverence or obsessive devotion” as the Merriam-Webster dictionary describes a fetish, merely ostentation or a yearning to escape our concrete bound existence for more contact with nature? Or more gravely, an embodiment of fear surrounding climate change and our concerns for the future of our planet? Could our fetishisation of the house plant as a proxy for nature unbound confer onto us protection against nature’s fury, or perhaps by ‘purifying’ the air in our homes save us from airborne pathogens? In that case, shouldn’t we be venerating native plants instead of exotic species like our caged trio?"

Regina Krawets completed a Bachelor of Design majoring in Jewellery and Textiles in 2020. She has had successful careers in both interior design and wearable art jewellery and has won awards both nationally and overseas for her beaded artworks.

Captive Carbon, 2019-2021
Assorted beads, glass beads, sterling silver, stainless steel, nylon thread, cultured pearl, Ultrasuede
Begonia Wightii Brooch, $1,040
Monstera Deliciosa Brooch, $975
Epiphyllum Brooch, $1,200

Image top: Regina Krawets, Captive Carbon series, 2021. Photo: Courtesy of the artist