Using key plants to tell stories about the impacts of European colonialism, Australian artist Keg de Souza’s new show explores the inextricable ties between place, nature and its occupants. Set in six rooms, eucalyptus, prickly pear and sheep fleeces act as vehicles for fascinating stories about the transportation of plants and their impact on local ecosystems and communities, as well as on the artist’s own cultural identity.

^{Picture: Ruth Clark}

In room one, eucalyptus leaves and branches are arranged from floor to ceiling, alongside dyed silks, their fresh scent wafting through the space to give the illusion of walking through a forest. Originating on Aboriginal land, eucalyptus is a widespread hardwood tree that currently covers over 22 million hectares worldwide. This tree was first extracted by the British and transported around the colonies from as early as 1840 due to its fast-growing and durable properties. 

In a later room we learn that prickly pear (a species of cacti originating in Oaxaca, Mexico) was taken to Australia only to become so invasive that multiple techniques had to be employed to kill, burn, poison and cut it down. Bright pink silks (dyed with cochineal beetles who lived on the plant) featuring illustrations which depict each of these techniques hang around the room. The final space brings us back to Scotland, where de Souza explores the phenomenon of seeds native to Australia and New Zealand being inadvertently carried in the fleeces of sheep when transported here to make tartan. 

^{Picture: Ruth Clark}

Bearing in mind the exhibition’s location and botany-centred audience, the themes and materials used throughout couldn’t be more relevant. Yet this underlying narrative, despite remaining uniquely personal to de Souza herself, transcends the world of plants. Instead it interrogates systems founded on capitalism and exploitation of land that continue to have generational implications and resonance to this day.

Shipping Roots is showing at Inverleith House Gallery, Edinburgh, until Sunday 27 August.