Rose is part of a series of assemblages featuring deaccessioned photographs from the New Jersey Museum of Agriculture in New Brunswick which closed in 2011 due to lack of funding by the “Garden State.” The black-and-white photographs documented the rise of industrial agriculture in the early 20th century, including crop experiments, the introduction of motorized farm equipment, and the impact of automation, pesticides and fertilizers.

I used a small part of the black-and-white inventory to reflect on my response to the seemingly innocent images from the perspective of a 21st century artist and librarian well acquainted with the deleterious effects of industrial agriculture.

By embellishing the prints by painting their surfaces and adding dimensionality to restore the sensuality of the subject, releasing it from its association with the exploitation of what is now known as agribusiness. The final works are mounted using Graflex Film Holders which were also sourced from the museum. Wendell Berry's quote guided me through the project: “If we corrupt agriculture we corrupt culture, for in nature and within certain invariable social necessities we are one body, and what afflicts the hand will afflict the brain.”

Gabriella Radujko

Gabriella Radujko