In the heart of Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, a unique art installation named "Seed of Potential" has sprouted, offering a compelling narrative on growth, sustainability, and community. Created by the talented Seema Lisa Pandya, a Brooklyn-based artist with deep roots in sustainability and cultural exploration, this installation is a powerful example of how art can spark deep thought and motivate change. "Seed of Potential" emerges not just as a piece of public art but as a beacon of potential for future projects at the intersection of art, sustainability, and community engagement.
"Seed of Potential" marries the concepts of growth and community engagement through its two sculptures, "The Seed" and "The Emerging Seed." Drawing from the profound idea that a mere seed contains the blueprint for a giant tree, Pandya etches community-sourced aspirations for a positive future into "The Seed," symbolizing incubated potential. This potential visibly blossoms in "The Emerging Seed," where these aspirations expand outward, reflecting the natural process of growth.
Image by Sophia Williams
Made from Richlite, a sustainable and durable material, the installation embodies sustainability in message and method, minimizing waste with its puzzle-like design. Showcased as part of the "Branching Out: Trees as Community Hosts" exhibit, "Seed of Potential" stands as a testament to the symbiosis of art, community, and environmental consciousness, reminding us of the collective power to nurture a hopeful and sustainable future from the smallest seeds of thought and action.
EcoSupply, a company at the forefront of sustainable building materials, played a pivotal role in the creation of the "Seed of Potential" installation by providing Richlite, an innovative material known for its environmental friendliness and durability. This collaboration showcased the integration of art and sustainability with Richlite's selection emphasizing the material's alignment with the artist Seema Lisa Pandya's commitment to ecological responsibility and the installation's thematic focus on growth and potential. Through their services division, EcoCuts, EcoSupply contributed to the fabrication process, highlighting the practical application of sustainable materials in art.
Image by Sophia Williams
This partnership between EcoSupply and Pandya not only brought "Seed of Potential" to life but also set a precedent for future projects that aim to merge artistic expression with environmental sustainability, demonstrating the vital role that innovative materials and collaborative efforts play in pioneering sustainable practices within the art world.
Image by Sophia Williams
Through the visionary artistry of Seema Lisa Pandya and the sustainable material solutions provided by EcoSupply, this project not only showcased the transformative power of a single seed but also highlighted the significant impact of collaboration in pushing the boundaries of ecological responsibility within the art world.
Image by Adrian Tillmann
As we reflect on the success of this installation, it's clear that the future holds immense potential for similar projects that seek to harmonize aesthetic expression with environmental consciousness. The partnership between artists and companies like EcoSupply, committed to sustainability, paves the way for a new era of art that inspires change, nurtures community involvement, and champions the planet's well-being. "Seed of Potential" is not just a testament to what has been achieved but a hopeful glimpse into what is accomplished when art and sustainability converge in purposeful collaboration.
Seed of Potential was first displayed at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens from June - October 2023. as part of a fellowship with AnkhLave Arts Alliance included in the “Branching Out: Trees as Community Hosts” public art exhibit curated by AnkhLave Curator, Cecilia Andre, as part of Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Power of Trees program.
Artist Bio
Seema Lisa Pandya’s art is informed by sustainability, biology, and her South Asian culture. Her work ranges from painting, sculpture, digital media, and kinetic works to public art and has been shown in Mumbai India, the Museum of Contemporary Art-Long Island, Anderson Contemporary, Pioneer Works, Plaxall Gallery, BRIC Arts, Wagner College, FIT, Prospect Park, Governor’s Island, (NYSID) New York School of Interior Design, Leon Gallery, Greenwich Art Society, and more. Seema and her work have also been featured in Time Out NY, NY1 News, Vogue India, Fine Woodworking Magazine, GB&D Magazine, Mood of Living, CodaWorx Magazine, Slow + Sustain, other publications, and more recently in a 2022 Super Bowl commercial. She has made works for recipients such as Khizr Khan and Chelsea Clinton. Her early career curatorial gallery achievements as Co-Owner of Revoluciones Collective Art Space in Denver Colorado included featuring artists such as Shepard Fairey and was awarded Best Alternative Art Space - Top of the Rockies Colorado in 2004, and Best Gallery Award, Go-Go Magazine in 2001.
Pandya has served as a mentor for the NYFA Immigrant Artist program, an advisor for the Diversity, Equity and, Inclusion committee at New York School of Interior Design (NYSID), and has extensive public speaking history including being a panelist at the Asian Arts Alliance “Art, Environment, and Justice in a Changing World” in 2019. She is also on the Board of the Brooklyn Raga Massive music collective.
Pandya earned her BFA with a concentration in Sustainable Design from Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design and currently teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in sustainable building at NYSID. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.Visit Seema's website at www.seemalisapandya.com
Artist Statement
I am a Brooklyn based first-generation South Asian Indian American artist who has spent adecade and a half as a sustainability consultant in the green building field. 9 years ago, I left my 9-5 consulting job to work for myself as a means of making room to explore my artistic expression. Sustainability never left me. As a result, my visual artwork is influenced by sustainable architecture and principles of nature, physics, and biology. One will find an aesthetic of amoebic free flowing organic shaped forms organized in fractal or biological patterns juxtaposed with architectural structural forms permeating throughout most of my work. I also explore the boundary between the build world and the natural world often using sustainable and reclaimed materials discarded from the build world. I take a multidisciplinary approach and do not consider myself an artist dedicated to one medium. Instead, I dedicate my work to themes and ideas using the best medium to express these ideas while also allowing materials readily available to me to speak to me about what they want to become. This approach has inspired me to create a variety of work over the years ranging from interactive kinetic sculptures, slatted light sculptures, public guerrilla art, wall art from reclaimed materials, woodworking, paintings, digital art animations, and public art.
"Seeds of Potential" has been featured in the following publications:
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