Lela Pierce has been investigating invasive plant species in her artistic work for the past five years. She is interested in the language and actions that people take to control differing populations and how these stories relate directly to power, migration, violence, resiliency and the colonisation of both land and people.

This time, she is looking at lupines – a plant that is native to North America (the continent where she was raised) – a plant invasive to Sweden (a country where the colonisers of her specific home town migrated from) – a plant which holds beauty.

Lela Pierce is from Minnesota and during early summer she will be based at Rävemåla Residence in Rävemåla, Ålem as part of Bodycake – Kalmar konstmuseum’s international residency program for artists. The program is included in the project Regenerating cultural heritage with contemporary art as compass. The exhibition and the residency are a collaboration with Nya Småland and Invasive Species: Lupines shows work from Lela Pierce’s stay in Småland.