ARTIST STATEMENT
Ocote and Toritos form part of a series of watercolors I created last year for Semillas, an exhibit curated by Casa Gallina at the Geology Museum in Mexico City. My paintings were presented alongside botanical research, a collection of herbarium specimens, and a wide variety of seeds. Semillas invited the public to reflect, through art and science, on the role of seeds in life on the planet and the importance of conserving their diversity.
Montezuma Pine, painted in tones of red and green, shows a common conifer cone with the less familiar winged keys of the seeds floating alongside the form that once protected them. In Devil’s Claw I painted a formidably sharp pod in yellow and purple from which dark, irregularly shaped seeds pour out — edible and delicious, if you are lucky enough to try some without lacerating your fingers. Through an exploration of varied forms and functions, and a celebration of the full rainbow range of colors these seeds reveal once they have sprouted and grown into plants, my seed paintings invite the viewer to observe what often goes unnoticed: the beauty, uniqueness, and complexity contained in small things.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Emily C-D (b. 1983) is a transdisciplinary artist originally from Maryland, based in Mexico for over a decade, and working on both sides of the border. She investigates the tension between social and environmental issues through painting, sculpture, social practice and performance, creating multilayered projects that challenge our human interaction with nature, often while simultaneously weaving people-place connections. Throughout her 20+ year career, she has exhibited her work in numerous solo and group shows, in addition to collaborating with diverse communities to transform public spaces with murals, interactive installations, and urban gardens. Emily received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art (2005) and was a two-time recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Grant, in the categories of sculpture (2014) and works on paper (2010). In Mexico, Emily C-D is known for her work promoting seed saving through art as the visual voice of Somos Semilla, a community-based seed library in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. In 2017, they published the first full-color illustrated seed saving manual in Spanish, “Cultiva – Cosecha – Comparte: Semillas para Todxs”, and Emily’s artwork has since become emblematic in the Latin American movement for food sovereignty and seed biodiversity conservation. In recognition of her long-term commitment to seeds, in 2025 Emily was invited by Casa Gallina to create a new body of work to be featured in the exhibit “Semillas” at the Geology Museum in Mexico City. She lives with her son in San Miguel de Allende.
© Emily C-D