Ann Shelton. Photo: Bonnie Beattie
Ann Shelton
PROJECT
Ann Shelton’s i am an old phenomenon series explores medicinal, magical and ethnobotanical understandings of plants. Shelton references plant-based belief systems that were suppressed in Europe during the early modern period. During this time, many women – so-called ‘wise women’, ‘witches’ or ‘wortcunners’ – were accused, tried and executed for the crime of witchcraft. Shelton’s botanical compositions are staged to embolden our understanding of what the artist identifies as the commodification of botany.
ABOUT
Ann Shelton is one of New Zealand’s foremost photographic artists. In her work, she frequently explores dismissed, criminalised or erased narratives, beliefs and knowledge systems. An Honorary Research Fellow (2020–26) in Photography at the Whiti o Rehua School of Art, Massey University, Aotearoa New Zealand, she has held solo exhibitions at Centre de la photographie Genève, Geneva (Switzerland); the Alice Austen House Museum, New York (US); and at Two Rooms, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, and Jhana Millers Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington (both in Aotearoa New Zealand). Shelton’s work has also been included in group exhibitions at the Museum of Architecture and Design, Ljubljana (Slovenia); Saatchi Gallery, London (UK); and the Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt (Aotearoa New Zealand). Public collections that hold Shelton’s work include the Auckland Art Gallery (which also hosted her solo show Dark Matter in 2016); Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū; Dunedin Public Art Gallery; the University of Auckland Art Collection; Govett-Brewster Art Gallery; the Chartwell Collection (all in Aotearoa New Zealand); and the Alice Austen House Museum, New York (US).