worm root wart and bare ann shelton

Author: Ann Shelton
312 pages

Part artist book and part scrapbook, photo book, quotography, and exhibition catalogue, worm, root, wort… & bane reassembles fragments of historical knowledge surrounding the medicinal, magical, and spiritual uses of plant materials — and the wise women, witches, and wortcunners who kept this knowledge safe. The book showcases this research alongside the first 19 artworks from i am an old phenomenon (2022-ongoing), a series of photographs of plant sculptures constructed by the artist.

Overflowing with 300+ images and quotations, this meticulously crafted book delves into the rich history of plant-centric belief systems, their suppression as Christianity spread and capitalism emerged in post-feudal Europe, and the estrangement between humans and the natural world that ensued. worm, root, wort… & bane situates us in this continuum, and points to the profound consequences of this rupture.

The book also features new essays by photographic curator Susan Bright and Victoria Munro, Executive Director of Alice Austen House, as well as The Three Fates, a short story by New Zealand writer Pip Adam, written in response to Ann Shelton’s research.