The Value of a Seed: Encaustic Works by Allyson Levy

Does a seed equal a seed? In an age ruled by deforestation, environmental concerns, and endless petitions to "save the trees", it's a question worth considering.

It's also the question that drives the encaustic works of Allyson Levy, who preserves organic material in wax with greater care than some of us might employ in preserving family heirlooms. For Levy, whose botanical works reflect both a reverence for and a knowledge of nature, the answer to such a question is simple: a seed equals a seed plus the seeds to follow, and to preserve one seed now is to ensure a species' future.

Levy cites her move to rural upstate New York as the life-changing experience that sparked her love of botany--a love that has transcended disciplines to manifest in her art, iconic for rhythmic assemblages of seeds, flora, and other plant material, all carefully preserved by a beautiful wax coating.

The idea, she explains, comes from a centuries-old means of intercontinental seed transport. "It started with the idea of making my own ex situ seed library by incorporating seeds of plants that I loved into my work, knowing that if these plants somehow became extinct I would be able to repopulate nature with them," she told Chronogram magazine back in 2014. "This is based on the 15th-century idea of storing seeds in wax for storage on shipping vessels."

The materials used in Levy's art all come from her 11-acre garden, which has become, over the decades of its growth, what she calls a "class-1 arboretum ... a 'living textbook.'" What began as a small garden for native trees, shrubs, and edible plants has erupted into one of the most diverse collections of plants in the region, incorporating bog plants, cacti, woodland species and non-native trees--and counting.

Whether you're versed in botany or not, the breadth of Levy's collection will amaze you. Vibrant, bold, and downright odd, many of her plants look like they've been imported from an alien planet, growing in colors and formations that most northerners have only ever seen in pictures.

With her art, Levy wants to share, not replicate, nature's beauty. "How does one take something that is so beautiful to begin with and make it beautiful in a new way?" she stated in an interview with R&F Handmade Paints, an encaustic paint manufacturer based in Kingston, NY. Like many artists who find their inspiration in nature, Levy faces the challenge of redefining the way we observe the natural world--that is, if we've been taking any time to observe it at all.

Far from expressing the austerity that is sometimes expected of professional artists, Allyson Levy approaches her work with a fearless sense of humor. Her timeless wit manifests in her creations. Take, for example, Acertain. The deliberate misspelling of "ascertain" is actually a reference to the acer seeds that have been elegantly preserved in the encaustic coating.

Or, if you please, a more controversial example: Can I Bliss makes a pun of a piece based on cannabis leaves, which are built up in subtle, delicate layers beneath the translucent wax. For such an elegant piece, it's likely to raise some eyebrows.

Yet another piece, simply titled Buy Me, reflects upon the plight of the "starving artist" with bald candor. (To date, Buy Me remains unbought. Contact Carrie Haddad Gallery for details.)

Perhaps Levy's lighthearted outlook comes from her modest beginnings. Levy never underwent any formal art training, only starting to work as an artist at the age of 21. Utilizing organic material even then--such as seeds and pig gut, among other things--Levy was constantly at odds with the medium's fragility, which disintegrated easily and tended to be somewhat off-putting.

Her first experiences with melted wax, now a staple of her work, did not involve any professionally made encaustic paints. Instead, she will relay with delight, she melted down crayons in a Crock-Pot, in many ways inspired by her young daughter.

Much of Levy's artistic drive originates in her identity as a mother and a woman, as exemplified by her Baya series. Her statement on the series, which expands profoundly upon her previous work, is as follows:

"My fascination with textiles is exemplified by my attraction to the African Mud cloth designs by the Bamana people of Mali. These cloths are called 'baya', and are created using a wax as a resistance medium to create patterns, a process that employs the use of both plants and mud.  

"Historically, the Baya cloths have strong graphic designs that often represent important cultural symbols and were worn by women during important transitional periods in their lives. Often the upper part of the cloth contains little dots which are hidden when worn. These small dots patterns symbolize the beaded belt, or " Baya", that a young Bamana woman wears around her waist and is associated with seduction and fertility.

"As a middle aged American woman on the cusp of the transitional period of menopause (another important female transition often shrouded in cultural secrecy), my own identity as a viable reproductive female has certainly been challenging. Creating the 'Baya' series, with a deliberate sense of a random pattern, is a play on the African idea of the "Baya" cloth. But unlike the traditional African textiles, my collection of panels is meant to display my personal collection of 'reproductive' dots (literally seeds or eggs). Encased in wax to preserve and aestheticize these seeds, these panels are meant to symbolize my transitional journey."

Expanding on the environmental themes typically explored in her work, Levy explores the concept of fertility--both its location at the crux of nature's perpetuity, and the taboo that we're nevertheless accustomed to surrounding it. Her own experience with fertility is tenderly recorded in the rows and columns of seeds spanning the panel. It is by recognizing something of herself in her seed library that Levy imbues the work with that much more personal meaning, thereby preserving a piece of her identity--and a condition shared by women worldwide--beneath the wax.

At the end of the day, Levy's works remind us how much we see, but how little we actually observe and understand. Seeds, leaves, and flora, normally camouflaged by the crowded undergrowth, are isolated. In their isolation, the unique value of each seed becomes apparent.

And that's the marvelous thing about nature: it defies logic. One seed does not equal one seed, but instead grows and blossoms into many--and from there, many more. Allyson Levy gives us, in marvelous, craftswoman-form, the value of a seed.

Opening image: Allyson Levy, Acertain, 2011, 24 X 48 inches; maple keys, pigment, and encaustic on wood; contact Carrie Haddad Gallery for pricing