Photos by Lauri Perez

Mari Omori subtly altered plants by tying, stitching and applying fibers that seemingly blended in with the natural landscape. Culturally inspired by the concept of the Japanese hidden garden, she invited us to seek out these secret treasures that discreetly nestled in the shadiest spots of Russ Pitman Park.

Amie Adelman's constructed forms are woven from multitudinous natural fibers such as twigs. For Human Nature Planted she created several large organic looking forms that deftly explore the relationships of pattern and texture whilst weaving in the question what is natural or un-natural?

Sprawling along the boundary of the park June Woest constructed an installation of a bamboo-like plant called Pharmacy Domesticus out of hundreds of brightly colored plastic prescription jars. Each individual container reminds us that many plants themselves contain healing properties, but contrastingly the orange color of the ubiquitous jar alerts us to society's ever growing consumption of medications.

Orna Feinstein's organic looking installation was comprised of a cluster of circles made out of a thin opaque white plastic situated in an open area of grasses and wildflowers in the park.  Each isolated area of the installation visually suggested a microscopic view of the plants' world. Close examination revealed constant changes as new plants invaded the area thus increasing the competition for resources. Nevertheless, unhinderingly, the openness of the structure allowed water, light and oxygen to reach the plants thus maintaining their livelihood. Although starkly contrasted with the natural environment Feinstein's sculpture was also at one with it.

Lucinda Cobley's installation tree+cipher was comprised of color-coded tags that were wrapped around the tree trunks and branches of a varied selection of trees in the park. The translucent tags were styled like a typical garden nursery tag only much larger and were painted boldly with colors that denoted specific attributes about each tree such as native or non-native, evergreen or deciduous. The meaning of each color was provided in a leaflet called Color Key for Survival that accompanied the installation.

Kathy Kelley constructed a group of large dark round forms made from used car tires fastened together with rusted wire. At first glance they have an ominous presence yet they have an organic form comprised of essentially recycled materials, returning a material that usually clutters up the freeways back into nature.

Placed a little way from a path with an overgrown and arched trellis, Andis Applewhite's quiet and unassuming installation was comprised of concrete slab forms, inset with natural rock, pieces of petrified wood, and tiny geometric, glazed tiles. She says, "This piece was made to be walked on and serves as a meditation to the soul in both nature and man made products".

Kathy Hall implanted seed-laden native grass stalks, harvested from her prairie restoration, spiralling around an existing stand of non-native giant bamboo. The juxtaposition of the grasses shows how non-native plants can dramatically alter the native landscape and the futility of imposing boundaries and order on the natural world based on aesthetic, not biological sensibilities.

Nathaniel Donnett's wooden construction of a tree-house was off the beaten track at the back entrance to the park, it looked like a den every child dreams of having, but sadly it was boarded up and displayed a red foreclosure sign that jolted us into society's current financial crisis. The image of the piece was also placed as an ad in a newspaper as a foreclosed house for sale. The imaginary neighborhood named Agon Springs referenced Greek games and plays and the eternal human conflict that appears in drama and literature; man verses man and man verses nature.

Lining the wire fencing of a simple arbor Keith Hollingsworth's transparent plexi-glass panels are etched with translucent drawings of a variety of trees. While wandering through one can study the different trees and read the accompanying names on the tags. The transparency of the panels allows for the images of trees to transpose onto with the natural features of the park.

Michael Crowder's installation of twenty-four ghostly looking birds were placed in the branches of two nearby trees. All looked identically translucent, but two were made of cast glass while the rest were made of ice. As the ice birds melted in the Houston heat we were left observing the remaining two glass ones and to ponder a line of Wallace Stevens's poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" which was nailed to the trunk of one of the trees: "I do not know which to prefer, The beauty of inflections Or the beauty of innuendoes, The blackbird whistling Or just after."

Perceiving the architectural quality of the trees, Jason Dean Moul inserted leaded stained glass panels between the boughs of the large leafless pecan trees near the entrance of the park. Reminiscent of tiny cathedral windows, they accentuated the stark silhouettes of the tree branches and denoted gatherings of natural elements such as pollen and water, seeds and leaves.