Inspired by a moment in time (in my life) where I felt very isolated and (creatively) lonely - dealing with the struggles of living remotely (The middle of nowhere).

As I drove one day (in the actual middle of nowhere, I saw something in the distance... a sculpture? No, not out here...
As I came to a stop, in front of me on the side of the dirt track grew a healthy flower ladened prickly pear (Opuntia).
Nothing for miles (not even a tuft of grass) yet here she stood. Proud & so healthy. An uninviting spiky exterior in the most beautiful colours of pale green with delicate white flowers & rich pink glossy covers. I marvelled at her, took a photo (that I never looked at again) and moved along. Not much around, How was (she) surviving here?

Within this juncture the Roots and All (worm) was formed.
Thoughts on my own circumstance & the generational farming started circling my thoughts. Being a newbie to the farming game (an in law)... it was inspiring to me, to know and learn where we came from and how hard our families before us had endured the tough years (and they were tough & resilient) and got us to where we are now.

The good years, the bad years, and all the in between. Farms, farmers & their families continue to flourish in what sometimes seems like the impossible sometimes.... The crops come up on the small amounts of rain rationed out (or they don't) and life goes on... and the cycle of crops, livestock & families continue.

That beautiful Prickly pear flooded my thoughts again. Tough & resilient it stood tall, she thrived on very little given to her.... I needed to make a series about these shared traits.

With the use of studio lighting, my trusty D3 Nikon (with a slight dust spot in the top RHS) the roots and all series gives an intricate insight of cacti suspended in air.

Cacti - structurally beautiful and almost ‘sculpture-like’ plants stand-alone dotted throughout rural areas, often embedded in the most barren and isolated places. Bold striking plants, that need no attention and thrive in their stark, usually parched environment, not unlike the farmers and their families who work the earth all over the EP and (most) continue to thrive for generations.

The (farmer) & (cacti) work hard in tough conditions, pouring themselves into the soil beneath them to maintain existence, to survive and grow.

There are fifteen works in this collection, with each piece capturing the nature of the plant, its spikes, the grit, the dirt, its roots and all.

This connection (farmer and cacti) tho conceptual, draws out the idea of resilience, Gab remarks ‘You may see a cactus, I see a battler.’