STORY BEHIND THE ART OF MONIKA DE VRIES GOHLKE

Abundant Future: Cultivating Diversity in Garden, Farm, and Field

Pawpaw

Asimina triloba

This small tree beckoned me when I was visiting the Herb Garden at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden last fall. Native to the eastern United States and cultivated by indigenous Americans, it was “abundant” in the past, is still bountiful and will be in the future. It is not commercially cultivated, but grows wild in the countryside and on private farms, and farmers bring the ripe fruits to farmers markets in September. The fruits are too fragile to ship well, so itʼs a “find or buy” situation, which suits me fine, because the taste is unusual and indescribably delicious. George Washington is said to have loved them “chilled” and so do I - so patriotic of me! I had already sketched the small brown flowers in the springtime, and the sweet green fruit and long shapely leaves inspired me to make a portrait of the plant.

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Read more about this artist’s work: 23rd Annual