Jo Bertini
Fever Trees, 2021
iridescent pigments & oil on French polyester canvas
163.5 x 202 cm, 165.5 x 204.5 cm (framed)
$25,000
The American southwest, like most deserts of the world, is rich in hallucinogenic plants that have been a source of medicines for indigenous people for millennia. Deserts, due mostly to...
The American southwest, like most deserts of the world, is rich in hallucinogenic plants that have been a source of medicines for indigenous people for millennia. Deserts, due mostly to their dryness, are also rich sources of allergens. Plants have evolved to survive in these inhospitable regions with astonishing ingenuity that stretches back into the prehistoric record. The strangeness and intoxicating, mesmerising magic of desert plant properties and their evolution is an ongoing source of study and inspiration and is also highly endangered. I have walked with many indigenous custodians of different deserts who have offered me natural plant medicines, healed my headaches and sorenesses with leaves, roots and berries and astounded me with their skills of identification and depth of knowledge. The richest source of desert plant knowledge lies with these indigenous custodians and their folklore is being lost with the loss their native lands and ways of life. These elusive hallucinogens and allergens may have a yet to be revealed vital elixirs for our contemporary world and our creative imaginations and dreams.