Medicinal Plants, Colonial Weeds, and Biodiversity Loss an article about this series on The Collation, a Folger Shakespeare Library blog.
Resilient Roots: Pollinators, Weeds & the Art of Repair Exhibition catalog featuring five works from the Herbarius Rewilded series
Acorus: Iris pseudacorus
Arnoglossa: Plantago lanceolata
Arthimesia: Artemisia vulgaris
Berberus: Berberus vulgaris
Branca ursina: Acanthus mollis
Brionna: Bryonia alba L.
Buglossa: Anchusa officinalis
Bursa pastoris: Capsella bursa-pastoris
Cicorea: Chicorium intybus L.
Cinoglossa: Cynoglossum officinalis
Cuscuta: Cuscuta europaea L.
Edera terrestris: Glechoma hederaceae
Enula: Inula helenium L.
Genesta: Cystisus scoparius
Iusquiamus: Hyocyamus niger
Malva: Malva sylvestris
Mellilotum: Melilotus officinalis
Millefolium: Achillea millefolium
Pastinaca: Pastinaca sylvestris
Pentassilon: Potentilla reptans L.
Sinapis: Sinapis alba L.
Taxus barbatus: Verbascum thapsus
Urtica: Urtica dioica
Viola: Viola spp.
Virga Pastoris: Dipsacus sylvestris
About this series
Herbarius Rewilded: From Medicinal Herbs to Modern Weeds is a series of mixed-media paintings designed as pages from a fragmented manuscript. It reimagines the 1484 Herbarius Latinus, a foundational book of European medicinal botany, as a narrative of empire and migration, environmental disruption and resilience, chemical herbicides and biodiversity loss, told through plants introduced by colonial settlers for their healing gardens.
Martin's archival research revealed that more than one third of the plants in the original text now appear in invasive-species databases and are targeted for chemical eradication, yet they continue to thrive in human-altered landscapes, often taking on new roles that support pollinators, stabilize soils, and restore depleted habitats. Once valued for their curative properties, these “weeds” embody the entwined historical, economic, and ecological forces underlying biodiversity loss in the 21st century.
Each work in this series features brush calligraphy, drawn from the ancient materia medica text printed in the Herbarius Latinus, dating back to writings by the Greek physician Dioscorides in the first century CE. New illustrations are inspired by the stylistic qualities of medieval woodblock prints. Marginalia, handwritten notes observed in the original book, consist of both botanical descriptions and the chemical formulae of recommended herbicides for each plant, environmental toxins that impact species from microbes to mammals.
Through art, history, and science, Herbarius Rewilded offers a nuanced perspective of historical and contemporary forces underlying biodiversity loss, and invites reflection on the complex roles of introduced species, including their potential contributions to ecological restoration and resilience. By focusing on plants despised as weeds, Martin's work acknowledges the value of all species, as ongoing habitat destruction, chemical inputs, and climate change accelerate the global biodiversity crisis.
This series supported through an Artist Research Fellowship at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC.