The Botanical Sphere: A companion document to the exhibition Tinctorial Cartographies

Abstract

The impetus for the Tinctorial Cartographies exhibition emerged from the desire to undertake a. focused study of Canadian natural dye plants. Given the geographical expanse of the country, building a vocabulary of Nova Scotian dyestuffs, a regional lexicon, seemed a viable place to begin. The genesis of the work came about amid a global revival in natural dye practices. Despite this renewed interest in the field, in-depth exploration into domestic plants seemed to be largely missing from the discourse.