Tilyen Mucik: Seeds

 

In one tiny seed, plants combine the past, the present and the future. With their ancient origins, they remind us of what once was, as plants began to reproduce with seeds more than 350 million years ago. Today, there are more than 350,000 plant species recorded in the world, of which the vast majority, as many as 260,000, produce various forms of seeds. Plants produce the oxygen we breathe, nourish us and are widely used in nearly all areas of human activity. Seeds also reflect the future – they carry it within them, safeguarding the prospect of life in a world still in the making. This incredibly rich subject matter, both physically and symbolically, attracted the visual artist Tilyen Mucik, inspiring her to create a series of photographs titled Seeds. Years ago, while cataloguing and organising her home seed collection, her fascination with minute seeds and their diverse shapes spurred her to begin documenting them.

 

The artist’s enthusiasm soon grew into an extensive project, in which a multitude of seeds of all possible shapes and colours, found or grown by herself or brought to her from near and far by friends and acquaintances, appeared in front of her lens. This year, she expanded the existing series with her latest works, a colourful selection of fresh, brand new botanical portraits, which this time include not only seeds but also fruits. The Seeds photo series was created digitally, with each seed image being composed from hundreds of photographs. Due to the limitations of macro photography, which allows only an extremely narrow range to be focused, the artist used a mechanical robot designed and made by her partner Matej Nahtigal specifically for this project. The device allowed her to move the camera in a controlled manner by approx. 0.2 mm and then combine the individual shots into the final image. This gives the viewer the opportunity to see the entire enlarged seed at once, while also allowing them to admire all of its incredible details in uniform focus. The studio photography process itself is time-consuming, but add to that the subsequent digital processing and assembly of all the photographs in post-production. In Tilyen Mucik’s photographs, the humble seeds, which we rarely pay attention to beyond their direct use, are deliberately placed in the spotlight, at the centre of our gaze. We encounter each one individually as they shine in supernatural sizes and boast extraordinary forms, showing off their fantastic colours and revealing the supernatural shapes and subtle textures of their surfaces.

 

The photographs are not only impactful visually, but also carry strong symbolism. Each seed contains a plant embryo, safely stored and surrounded by a protective shell and nutrients, which allows it to survive through time, unfavourable for germination, such as periods of winter or drought, which can last not only for years, but even centuries. This does not only affect the survival of the plants themselves, but also of all those who depend on them in various ways. Seeds carry a treasure, a secret that is only revealed in the right circumstances, a potentiality that sprouts when the conditions are right, takes root, grows into a mature plant and ultimately produces a new generation. The cycle is thus complete and ready to begin again. Mucik, who has been developing and upgrading her photographic series for several years now, succeeds in fascinating the viewers with her work time and time again. In addition to her two-dimensional photographs, she has now expanded her series even further with a collection of recycled silver jewellery made in collaboration with Nika Klinec, a jewellery designer and maker. The main characters, naturally, are selected plant seeds or fruits in which seeds are hidden safely. The selection is not accidental: corn, for example, is essential for ensuring food independence, while linden and the common poppy evoke the precious heritage of indigenous peoples, herbalists and gatherers, the European spindle tree reminds us of the importance of preserving traditional craftsmanship and skills ... Each with its own story and symbolism, these species remind us of the interconnectedness and interdependence of the human and plant realms.

 

Everything therefore originates from plants – and even before that, from their seeds. When considering hundreds of millions of years since plants have been reproducing with their aid, the brief moment of human presence on Earth seems completely insignificant, yet today it is us who determine their fate. With her dedication to botanical motifs, the visual artist Tilyen Mucik constantly directs the viewer’s attention to topics that would otherwise often go unnoticed, and she does so in an innovative and thought-provoking manner. Her work evokes boundless wonder and, above all, raises awareness of the crucial role of plants in Earth’s ecosystems and our responsibility for their preservation.

 

Vida Jocif