Next of Kin
An Ongoing, Interactive Multi-Media Exhibition
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The artists asks the questions:
"If I can communicate with plants, do plants also communicate with me?"
"If I respond emotionally to plants, do plantss respond emotionally to me?"
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Join me in exploring deep connections between ourselves and the flora around us by considering plant communication & human intuition. This interactive exhibition utilizes modern technology to receive the electric impulses of plants which then translates those into sound frequencies. A cell phone is required to listen via QR codes where galleries are not equipped with audio/visual equipment.
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I provide hands on opportunities for visitors to dialogue back in their own language by writing to another living plant on the papers provided. These pages will be collected by the artist and read aloud to the plants the following summer in an effort to observe how plants respond to the love letters.
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Scroll down to view the various elements involved in this exhibition.
Portraits of Mother Earth - Textile & Acrylic on Canvas
Crown of Avens, 2025 20x20" embroidery & textile on Canvas
Crown of Avens, detail
As Above, So Below, 2025 6 panel detail, embroidery on canvas, Prairie Sage and roots.
Crown of Avens, 2025 20x20" embroidery & textile on Canvas
Portraits of Mother Earth began in 2023 with a Research and Creation grant awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts. The work began by photographing the land throughout the Meewasin Valley in Saskatoon on Treaty 6 Territory, Canada. Paintings were created and then textile techniques were used to bring the plants to life, creating a 3 dimensional effect. Freestyle machine stitching, hand embroidery, and knotwork were used to add sculptural elements of roots, grasses, biocrust and spring flowers. I am grateful to the Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan, to Naturalist Trevor Herriot, Dr. Hart at the Ledingham Herbarium, and to Denver Falconer of the WP Fraser Herbarium for all of their support and for supplying immense and knowledgeable research information.
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Each has a corresponding QR coded sound elicited by human/plant interaction, recorded with Plant Wave in 2025.​
Women Gathering -Textile installation, ongoing creation
Each panel approximately 1 m x 1.5m Organza, cotton sillouettes.
Detail of shadows cast.
Each panel approximately 1 m x 1.5m Organza, cotton sillouettes.
Each panel approximately 1 m x 1.5m Organza, cotton sillouettes.
Women Gathering is a set of multi-coloured organza panels, measuring approximately .8m wide and a minimum of 1m long. Each don a silhouette of either a woman, a plant, or a pollinator of various semi-opaque cotton fabrics. They can be displayed in groups, rows, forward from the wall to create shadows, or suspended from the ceiling with a light source from behind. The appear alive as fluid movement occurs with any gentle breeze.
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This body of work began during my Canada Council grant year in 2023, quite unintentionally. One morning, I was moved by the sight of my shadow on my studio wall. Day after day, whenever the sunrise shone in, I traced myself upon rising. During the grant period, I was making numerous drawings (blind contour, shadow painting, non-dominant hand only) from live plants in an effort to learn how to understand the structures of them. As a landscape artist, florals were not something I had studied. I filled piles of sketchbooks.
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Eventually, I began to drawing bouquets right onto my self portrait sketches, often blind and with my non dominant hand. Soon, the walls of the studio had me surrounded by women and plants. It was breathtaking, yet comforting. Women were gathering together, but women were also gathering plants. I began to deep-dive my ancestry, the motherline, identity and legacy. These panels are a love story between me and the flowers. They are my medicine, they are my food, and they are my comfort.
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The choice of colours challenges perception. The blue birds are pink. The Western Red Lilies are blue. I was so intrigued to learn that birds see the world in different colours than we do. The sky is not blue. It can be anything. I wanted to see that world. And so, this body of work was born. Everyone is different but we are all in this together.​
Impressions From My Garden - Ecoprints
Ecoprints of my back yard flowers, steam-pressed onto watercolour paper and enlarged for gallery presentation. Original impression at 4x6 inches, gallery printed at 11x14 inches.
Sweet Pea
Ecoprints of my back yard flowers, steam-pressed onto watercolour paper and enlarged for gallery presentation. Original impression at 4x6 inches, gallery printed at 11x14 inches.
Ecoprints of my back yard flowers, steam-pressed onto watercolour paper and enlarged for gallery presentation. Original impression at 4x6 inches, gallery printed at 11x14 inches.
This collection of ecoprints were created during my summer residencies with the Biophilium in 2024, and again in 2025. The plants were selected from my own yard and steam pressed onto soy mordanted watercolour paper. Each piece was 4x6 inches and sealed with a wax topcoat. For Gallery presentation, large scale prints are used in order to give precedence to the plants. Because of the scanning process, the viewer is able to see the texture and the pigment of the florals, as though it is the energy signature left on the paper from the process.
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Unpublished poetry may accompany these works, as I chose to participate in the residency as an "en Plein Air poet." Each residency was generously funded by Sk Arts (2024) and a private donor (2025) respectively.​
Public Feedback
​​"A gentle, meaningful exhibition prompting me to breathe deeply and notice."​
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"Absolutely incredible work. Reflective and engaging all at once."​​
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"I don't know why I'm crying."
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"The detail is exquisite. The layering of panels a delight."
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"Magnificent. So much labour. So much love."
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"Powerful. Intriguing. Educational."
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​"I forgot. Now I'm remembering how connected and sacred all beings are. We are family."
Listen to the Plants
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Watch as plants respond to their environment, other plants, pollinators, and to all living things including us. Using a Plant Wave device, I share interactions with the plants in the videos below to demonstrate interspecies communication.
Plant Communication
Plant Communication
Listen to Moss
Listen to Prairie Sage
Listen to 3 Flowered Avens in Spring
Interspecies Communication
After guests have listened to the plants, I give them an opportunity to respond back in their own language, in an act of reciprocity. Below are some of the written responses:
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Roses are Red,
Skies are Blue.
O My Dear friend, (Nature)
I LOVE YOU!
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Thank you (plants) for supporting my life - feeding me, clothing me, providing the materials to shelter me, and the beauty to soothe me.
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Bloom brightly,
Grow deeply.
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Thank you for loving me dear flowers.
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My garden is my savior.
She has guided me through
challenging life chapters.
She has the power to heal.
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Where would I be without you, dear Flowers
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My roots run deep...
here on the prairies.
HOME
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Plants,
You are so inspirational.
You calm my soul,
you make me see joy in all things
and I feel honored to be able
to care for you !!
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My garden is my muse, my sanctuary
and how I prefer to spend my time.
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On behalf of myself and the plants, I offer a heartfelt thank-you to all who have supported and/or participated with this exhibition. May this project grow and continue to connect people and plants. To inquire about exhibiting this work or an artist talk, email me or leave a message on my contact page.
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Sincerely, Monika Kinner
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