THE STUDIO
ART AND SCIENCE
INSPIRED BY NATURE Manipulating Moss with Bri’Anna Horne BY ELLEN KANZINGER
WHEN AN ARTIST USES NATURE AS
a subject, time, in its constant march forward, is present in every piece. The changing leaves on a landscape photographed one day are gone the next. A river never stops to hold a pose to paint. Flowers bloom and birds migrate in seasonal motion. But in moss, artist Bri’Anna Horne has found a medium that allows her to work with a material that seemingly defies time. “Moss, for me, has always been something to relish,” she said. “A lot of natural materials you might work with, whether that be leaves or flowers, you get really bright colors but they’re not really durable in the long term.” The structure of moss allows Horne the ability to manipulate and preserve it in different ways to create something intentional. Her moss pieces don’t require any care other than the occasional dusting and making sure to avoid too much direct sunlight. “People love to have nature in their space,” she said. “But for me, sometimes life gets a little bit hectic so I can’t necessarily say that I’m going to be the best caregiver to plants.” Ordo Displays, Horne’s platform for her artwork, gets its name from the Ordovician Period. It was during this geologic time period that plants, specifically mosses, first appeared on land. A scientist by trade, Horne said
HORNE MERGES HER SCIENTIFIC AND ARTISTIC INTERESTS IN HER MOSS PIECES. PHOTO BY SARAH ADLER @MOTHER.AND.WILD
MARCH 2021 | BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM
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