PRESS RELEASE
NIC BLADEN | GROOTBOS
Dec 10, 2025 – Jan 3, 2026
NIC BLADEN
Grootbos
This new collection of botanical sculpture comes from Grootbos, a private reserve situated in the far west of the Agulhas Plain within the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. With a plant list of more than 1,000 species, of which six are new to science and many are rare or threatened, Grootbos is a trove of botanical delights.
From August 2024 to July 2025, I made almost weekly pilgrimages to Grootbos. With permission to move about freely in the 3,900-hectare area reserve, I became acquainted with not only the plants and topography but also the sounds and something of the very rhythm and heartbeat of the landscape.
The plants I chose to harvest, and cast, are for me a distillation of the Grootbos I’ve come to know intimately. Some of the plants I’ve cast are those easily passed by – scruffy and nondescript – such as vingerties (Manulea cheiranthus). Until one looks closer, that is. Other plants are monumental and almost iconic, such as the candelabra lily (Brunsvigia orientatilis) and the blouvuurpyl (Aristea capitata). And then there are the tiny gems, small yet powerful in their presence; the hedgehog lily (Masonia longipes) comes to mind. In this category too is the spider orchid, the Bartholina etheliae, which I was utterly delighted to successfully cast after a more than twenty-year wait.
As another layer of the exhibition, I worked with resident herpetologist Kurt van Wyk. His beautiful recordings of frogs and birds at Grootbos accompany the show as a subtle sound-loop, both immersing the viewer deeper into the experience of the landscape and highlighting the interconnectedness of all the living things within it.
Many people assisted me on the road to this exhibition. I’d like to thank all the Grootbos staff. I’d also most particularly like to acknowledge Chris Lochner, Sean Privett, Vicki Thomas, Jenny Malcolm and Magda Smit, who were indispensable.
Finally, I am wholly indebted to Michael and Dorothee Lutzeyer for granting me access to this pristine piece of fynbos paradise, and for trusting me to select and harvest the plants with care and mindfulness. Everard Read and I are very glad to be able to give something back, by contributing a percentage of sales to the Grootbos Foundation, which does such incredible work within both conservation and the local community.
Nic Bladen
November 2025
