Invasion Aesthetics

Jasmin Märker is an artist working at the cross-sections of bio-art and environmental art. Invasion Aesthetics brings together a series of work that was produced over the past two years while the artist was a participant of the Freeland’s Artist program.

The body of work stems from extensive research into biodiversity and conservation discourse and interrogates prevalent colonialist ideologies and attitudes towards nature.  Starting with questions such as; ‘What inherent views affect our decision to label non-humans as invasive?’, ‘What informs the division of territories into labels such as ‘garden’ and ‘wilderness’,  ‘Why do we bring desired species into one space, but fear them when they transcend into others?’ 

 In pursuit of answers, the artist acquired considerable knowledge in fieldwork and analysis. Pedalling countless miles on the bike and scouting landscapes in and around Belfast, she transported jars of soil to the studio/ laboratory, swabbed cotton tips on agar plates, collected specimens and prepared Erlenmeyer flasks of solutions. Though her process resembles foraging, the artist was not looking for food, but for the invisible - traces of underground networks and examples of nature’s creativity that could overthrow anthropocentric binaries and hierarchical classifications. 

This exhibition includes works made through processes such as paper chromatography, soil paper making, collaging organic material and image-making with bacteria. The artist frequently incorporates ‘invasive’ specimens such as Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed into the works.
In this immersive presentation of her research at PS², the artist creates a striking visualisation of anthropocentric categorisations of our environment. By doing so, she raises critical questions around the imposition and impact of human narratives and perspectives over nature.

This project was also generously supported by Fundación Mar Adentro in Chile and Science Gallery in Dublin.

About the artist

Jasmin Märker  is an artist working at cross-sections of bio-art, sculpture and nature education. They collaborate with both humans and non-humans to explore holistic proposals for sustainability. Jasmin explores themes of interspecies kinship, de-colonisation of land and ecological identity. Her works are often alive and provide evolving art-science spectacles to their audiences.
Jasmin Märker received a BA in Fine Art from Ulster University in 2016 and works from Vault Artist Studios in Belfast. She is a current recipient of the Freeland's Artist Programme (2019-21) and in the process of concluding a body of work resulting from research examining colonial narratives in biodiversity.