“Heart of Boxerwood” is a visual love letter from Todd to Boxerwood Nature Center and Woodland Garden, located just outside of Lexington, and a thank you note for all the gifts it gave her and her family. The artwork also pays homage to the late Dr. Robert S. Munger, who was responsible for the creation and development of the beloved woodland garden.
Todd began exploring Boxerwood in 2003 with her small children in tow. Together they played in and wandered through the gardens and woods. "It was a sanctuary.” said Todd, “A safe haven for me as a young mother. The time we spent there together is so dear to my heart." As years passed and her family grew, they continued to roam the grounds and connect more deeply with nature and with Boxerwood. Now, twenty-two years later, with her family mostly grown, Todd rambles the grounds gathering inspiration and plant materials for her cyanotype images.
“Cyanotypes are an old printmaking technique dating back to the 1840s” she explains. “In a darkroom I paint hot and cold press watercolour papers with a liquid of light sensitive iron salts. Then I arrange either the plant materials or manipulated photographs on top of the paper and expose the whole thing to light. When I wash the paper in water the areas that were shielded from the light show up as white and the exposed areas are a beautiful Prussian blue. The blue-green shades feel like a reflection of Earth, which makes them perfect for my Heart of Boxerwood project.”
In 1952 Dr. Munger and his wife Elizabeth Evans Munger built their home in a slightly overgrown pasture where they began raising their three children. At first Dr. Munger simply collected and planted shrubs and trees to shade his home. Over the next thirty years, though, he studied horticulture and planted upwards of 13,000 trees and shrubs from all over the world. In 1997, Boxerwood opened to the public and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. Today, Boxerwood is basecamp for hundreds of environmental education programs each year, attracts thousands of annual visitors (especially for its children's PlayTrail), and hosts beloved seasonal community activities like Music in the Garden, the Pumpkin Walk, and more.
Todd will donate 50% of all sales to Boxerwood Education Association, the nonprofit that owns and manages the 15-acre garden and facilitates environmental education and earth action projects throughout the Rockbridge area. “We’re all so excited about this exhibit,” said Emily Kohl, Boxerwood’s Executive Director. “It’s our 25th anniversary as a nonprofit this year, and art is such a powerful way to connect with nature and express one’s sense of self. I think the body of work Mariam has created is going to be inspirational to a lot of folks who experience a sense of belonging when they visit Boxerwood.”
Each cyanotype is matted in off white to 20” x 16”, finished with cold wax and comes in a silver frame with glass.
The two in his study are aluminum frames, and the ones of him with family and outdoors are wood painted silver.
I made the negatives of Dr. Munger in his study with permission from Ted Orland, who took the photographs.
The remaining two negatives I made with permission from Sally Mann.
Make your selection from the dropdown menu.
“Heart of Boxerwood” is a visual love letter from Todd to Boxerwood Nature Center and Woodland Garden, located just outside of Lexington, and a thank you note for all the gifts it gave her and her family. The artwork also pays homage to the late Dr. Robert S. Munger, who was responsible for the creation and development of the beloved woodland garden.
Todd began exploring Boxerwood in 2003 with her small children in tow. Together they played in and wandered through the gardens and woods. "It was a sanctuary.” said Todd, “A safe haven for me as a young mother. The time we spent there together is so dear to my heart." As years passed and her family grew, they continued to roam the grounds and connect more deeply with nature and with Boxerwood. Now, twenty-two years later, with her family mostly grown, Todd rambles the grounds gathering inspiration and plant materials for her cyanotype images.
“Cyanotypes are an old printmaking technique dating back to the 1840s” she explains. “In a darkroom I paint hot and cold press watercolour papers with a liquid of light sensitive iron salts. Then I arrange either the plant materials or manipulated photographs on top of the paper and expose the whole thing to light. When I wash the paper in water the areas that were shielded from the light show up as white and the exposed areas are a beautiful Prussian blue. The blue-green shades feel like a reflection of Earth, which makes them perfect for my Heart of Boxerwood project.”
In 1952 Dr. Munger and his wife Elizabeth Evans Munger built their home in a slightly overgrown pasture where they began raising their three children. At first Dr. Munger simply collected and planted shrubs and trees to shade his home. Over the next thirty years, though, he studied horticulture and planted upwards of 13,000 trees and shrubs from all over the world. In 1997, Boxerwood opened to the public and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. Today, Boxerwood is basecamp for hundreds of environmental education programs each year, attracts thousands of annual visitors (especially for its children's PlayTrail), and hosts beloved seasonal community activities like Music in the Garden, the Pumpkin Walk, and more.
Todd will donate 50% of all sales to Boxerwood Education Association, the nonprofit that owns and manages the 15-acre garden and facilitates environmental education and earth action projects throughout the Rockbridge area. “We’re all so excited about this exhibit,” said Emily Kohl, Boxerwood’s Executive Director. “It’s our 25th anniversary as a nonprofit this year, and art is such a powerful way to connect with nature and express one’s sense of self. I think the body of work Mariam has created is going to be inspirational to a lot of folks who experience a sense of belonging when they visit Boxerwood.”
Each cyanotype is matted in off white to 20” x 16”, finished with cold wax and comes in a silver frame with glass.
The two in his study are aluminum frames, and the ones of him with family and outdoors are wood painted silver.
I made the negatives of Dr. Munger in his study with permission from Ted Orland, who took the photographs.
The remaining two negatives I made with permission from Sally Mann.
Make your selection from the dropdown menu.
“Heart of Boxerwood” is a visual love letter from Todd to Boxerwood Nature Center and Woodland Garden, located just outside of Lexington, and a thank you note for all the gifts it gave her and her family. The artwork also pays homage to the late Dr. Robert S. Munger, who was responsible for the creation and development of the beloved woodland garden.
Todd began exploring Boxerwood in 2003 with her small children in tow. Together they played in and wandered through the gardens and woods. "It was a sanctuary.” said Todd, “A safe haven for me as a young mother. The time we spent there together is so dear to my heart." As years passed and her family grew, they continued to roam the grounds and connect more deeply with nature and with Boxerwood. Now, twenty-two years later, with her family mostly grown, Todd rambles the grounds gathering inspiration and plant materials for her cyanotype images.
“Cyanotypes are an old printmaking technique dating back to the 1840s” she explains. “In a darkroom I paint hot and cold press watercolour papers with a liquid of light sensitive iron salts. Then I arrange either the plant materials or manipulated photographs on top of the paper and expose the whole thing to light. When I wash the paper in water the areas that were shielded from the light show up as white and the exposed areas are a beautiful Prussian blue. The blue-green shades feel like a reflection of Earth, which makes them perfect for my Heart of Boxerwood project.”
In 1952 Dr. Munger and his wife Elizabeth Evans Munger built their home in a slightly overgrown pasture where they began raising their three children. At first Dr. Munger simply collected and planted shrubs and trees to shade his home. Over the next thirty years, though, he studied horticulture and planted upwards of 13,000 trees and shrubs from all over the world. In 1997, Boxerwood opened to the public and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2015. Today, Boxerwood is basecamp for hundreds of environmental education programs each year, attracts thousands of annual visitors (especially for its children's PlayTrail), and hosts beloved seasonal community activities like Music in the Garden, the Pumpkin Walk, and more.
Todd will donate 50% of all sales to Boxerwood Education Association, the nonprofit that owns and manages the 15-acre garden and facilitates environmental education and earth action projects throughout the Rockbridge area. “We’re all so excited about this exhibit,” said Emily Kohl, Boxerwood’s Executive Director. “It’s our 25th anniversary as a nonprofit this year, and art is such a powerful way to connect with nature and express one’s sense of self. I think the body of work Mariam has created is going to be inspirational to a lot of folks who experience a sense of belonging when they visit Boxerwood.”
Each cyanotype is matted in off white to 20” x 16”, finished with cold wax and comes in a silver frame with glass.
The two in his study are aluminum frames, and the ones of him with family and outdoors are wood painted silver.
I made the negatives of Dr. Munger in his study with permission from Ted Orland, who took the photographs.
The remaining two negatives I made with permission from Sally Mann.
Make your selection from the dropdown menu.
