Feet in the Soil: Painting with the Sky: Alice MacKenzie

This installation is outside and can be viewed whenever the cemetery is open.
It hangs between the columns of the front portico of St Stephen's Chapel.
In July of 2023 and September of 2024 people gathered at West Norwood Cemetery for guided plant walks exploring the herbs and trees growing in the nature reserve area of the cemetery. The plant walks were led by cemetery gardener Helen MacKenzie and Maria Cabrera of the South London Botanical Institute, with artist Alice MacKenzie. Along the walks we carefully gathered flowers, leaves and grasses to make a series of silk cyanotype prints - or sun prints - for this collective artwork. 

Cyanotypes are one of the oldest forms of photography and have a long history with botanical illustrations, dating back to Anna Atkins and her book of Algae and Seaweeds of the British Coast in 1843. Here the prints are collected together by Alice MacKenzie and sewn onto long silk banners that have been dyed with nettles. Nettles are often considered weeds, but have a long and wide history in both medicine and cooking. Nettles dye silk a silver-ivory colour.

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More on the artist and project leaders:
Alice MacKenzie is a dance artist and writer based between London and Stockholm. As part of her interest in the histories and tangled relationships between people and plants, Alice has been making cyanotypes and scent extractions for a number of years, often as part of live performances or publications. Alice was artist in residence at Cherry Garden School in Southwark for 10 years, making books, podcasts, performances and installations with the children, their families and the staff. Her work has been commissioned by Northern Sustainable Futures, Nya Nya Norrland, Sånafest, Delta and SITE Specific festival, amongst others. 
alicemackenzie.blogspot.com

Helen MacKenzie completed a Horticultural Apprenticeship at West Norwood Cemetery and Crematorium and is now a gardener at the cemetery.

Maria Cabrera is a community gardener whose work is influenced by Indigenous and Caribbean growing practices. She is led a collaboration between West Norwood Cemetery and South London Botanical Gardens and is the community gardener at ACAVA.