The Pollinators

At the center of the exhibition are four monumental stoneware sculptures arranged in pairs and connected through neon tubes glowing with the chromatic presence of noble gases. These hybrid beings, female faces with elongated ears, emerge as emissaries of interspecies entanglement. They reference endangered pollinators and plants, including the Ghost Orchid, the Sphinx moth, the Greater long-nosed bat, and the Bois Dentelle. Each form is enmeshed within a lithic, stone-like body, suggesting beings shaped by deep time, adaptation, and mutual dependence.

Surrounding the central sculptures are ceramic wall plaques inspired by familiar garden flowers, species cultivated, transported, modified, and dispersed through human industry. Created in highly metallic glazes, these surfaces evoke the ancient symbiosis between plants and minerals. The works trace a material lineage: from stone to soil, from soil to root, from root to bloom, and from bloom into our bodies. Plants act as conduits, carrying the mineral memory of the earth into living systems, binding us to what Vala calls our “dreaming rocky planet.”

Chefas Projects