24 Blooms & 24 Recipes
Opening August, 2024 with the Hamilton County Public Library East, Indiana, USA
Maria Schechter is inspired by the scribes of the High Middle Ages who worked on illuminated manuscripts. Their work and recipes inspired her to continue her own research after an art and science residency with the Ayatana Biophilium Artists Research Residency in Canada. In 2022, Maria was awarded three international residencies with the Biophilium: “Symbiosis: Science School for Artists,” “Mycophilia: Mushroom School for Artists,”
and “Earth Pigments/Wild Craft.”
Schechter is fueled by Hildegard of Bingen’s life and the surroundings of her home in Germany. Hildegard of Bingen was a Christian mystic, the first female composer of the western world, a naturalist, doctor, and excelled in many other areas. She is considered a polymath of the High Middle Ages. Maria was introduced to the work of Hildegard of Bingen in her first year of undergraduate studies with Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. During a women’s studies class, Maria learned about “Viriditas,” which was the guiding image for Hildegard and appeared regularly in her work. Viriditas refers to the greening power of nature as a metaphor for physical and spiritual health. Viriditas were, in part, the visible aspect of the lush, greenness of the divine in nature.
The exhibit of 24 Blooms references the healing power of nature and the 24 recipes inspired by High Middle Age scribes who painted the illuminated manuscripts. Many of their palettes were made by processing botanical materials into dyes. Using the same methods of combining salts and metals, she follows the traditional dyer’s method. With continued research at Indiana University’s Lilly Library, Maria developed eco-friendly recipes. Most of these recipes have been made with substantial material such as onion skins, black walnut and even the skins of pomegranate which are tannin rich mordants that still allow for the color to bite the paper or fabric, and give us a healthier recipe for a healthier world. The colors are as rich, vibrant, and lightfast as the traditional materials of using alum and washing soda (metal and salts). The botanical palettes yield the same vibrant colors of the middle ages.
