Listening to Nature’s Voice: The Story Behind Madame Planta
How Seeds, Art, and Silence Shaped a Journey Toward Reconnecting with the Natural World
A few years ago, I left Lisbon’s city lights behind and embarked on a new chapter in the deep, lost (really LOST) countryside of Portugal. Surrounded by the quiet rhythms of nature, I embraced the silence and allowed the landscape to seep into my work. My garden became my atelier, a living space where my artistic practice took root. It was there, among the living soil and the endless sky, that I began to explore the potential of organic materials in my art.
This shift led to a series of works that I called The Prose of the World. The first piece in this series was a live performance centered on the theme of future water scarcity in an imaginary space soil path. Using seeds as part of the performance, I aimed to express the delicate balance between growth, survival, and the elements that sustain—and will continue to sustain—life.
Weeks after presenting this performance, a fellow artist from the festival where I showcased this piece shared something that deeply moved me: a photo of the seeds that I had used during the performance—they had sprouted 🌱. The seeds had actually sprouted in the remains of the soil I used during the live performance, even while stored beside a closed plastic bag in a storage room.
I couldn't believe it! I truly could not grasp how nature is so poetic and resilient. This unexpected event became a pivotal moment for me. It felt like a message from nature itself—an invitation to listen more closely, to consider the hidden life and potential within each seed.
From that point on, the concept of sprouting became central to my work. It symbolized not only new beginnings but the mysterious vitality that lies dormant within nature, waiting for the right conditions to emerge. I immersed myself in research, exploring the idea that plants could be more than passive elements in our world—that they might be sentient, aware, and capable of communication.
This journey led me back to forgotten corners of New Age literature, like The Secret Life of Plants (Tompkins and Bird 1973), and forward into scientific studies that challenge our understanding of intelligence and perception. It opened up a new dialogue in my practice—one where plants are not just materials or subjects but collaborators, with their own rhythms and voices. It also reconnected me with my spirituality.
Many years later, after countless hours of research and exploration, I feel an undeniable urge to share everything I’ve uncovered—both about the hidden life of plants and the evolution of my own artistic process. My journey took me from the quiet expanses of the countryside back to the city lights, but this time, in a different city and another country. With a new perspective and a deeper understanding of the natural world, I find myself ready to connect with others who might feel the same pull towards nature’s quiet wisdom.
This is where Madame Planta comes in. It has become my platform for sharing everything I’ve uncovered about the mysterious, vibrant world of plants and how they’ve influenced my art and my way of seeing the world. It’s a space where I can bring together my creative experiments, the knowledge I’ve gathered, and the experiences that have shaped me along the way.
Through Madame Planta, I aim to share the seeds and stories of plants as I’ve come to know them—not just as botanical entities but as living, breathing beings with their own intelligence and rhythms. It’s a place to explore how these discoveries have woven themselves into my artistic process, from the initial seeds of an idea to the organic materials I use, and even the music I create using biodata sonification. Here, plants don’t just sit in the background; they take center stage, sharing their voices through sound and becoming active participants in my art.
But Madame Planta is also about dialogue and connection. It’s a space where art meets research, where creative practices are intertwined with scientific curiosity and spiritual exploration. I want to invite others into this journey—not only to witness my work but to find inspiration and meaning in their own relationships with the natural world. Whether it’s through sharing a book that has shifted my perspective, an art piece that embodies the spirit of a particular plant, or a soundscape where plants themselves play a role, my hope is to spark a deeper connection to the more-than-human world around us.
As human societies urbanize and distance themselves from nature, I believe we risk losing touch with the deep connections that bind us to the natural world. This disconnection is not merely a loss of knowledge, tradition, or rituals; it is also a loss of mental and ecological balance. The more we isolate ourselves from the rhythms of nature, the more we lose sight of the intricate relationships that sustain life on this planet.
This is where Madame Planta comes in—as an invitation to rediscover what Gregory Bateson called the “pattern which connects” all living things (Bateson 1972). This pattern—woven through ecosystems, human minds, and plant intelligence—is not a distant concept but something that is alive and waiting to be heard, seen, and understood. It is the hidden thread that links the rustling of leaves with the pulse of our own hearts, the growth of roots with the deep-seated stories we carry within us.
By exploring these profound connections between humans and plants, I embark on a journey of healing, consciousness, and ecological awareness. Through Madame Planta, I invite you to walk this path with me, where art, plants, and sound healing come together to restore balance—both within ourselves and in the world around us. It is not just a blog; it is a platform to reconnect, to listen deeply, and to awaken to the vibrant, intelligent life that surrounds us every day.
I invite you to join me on this journey of rediscovery and reconnection with the living world. If you feel the pull towards nature’s quiet wisdom and are curious about the hidden life of plants, art, and sound, I’d love for you to subscribe and become a part of the Madame Planta community 🌿✨💚.
Together🌱🌱✨, let’s explore the stories that nature has to share, and allow ourselves to listen more deeply to the vibrant, intelligent life that surrounds us.
References 📚🌿✨
Bateson, Gregory. 1972. Steps to an Ecology of Mind. San Francisco: Chandler Publishing Company.
Tompkins, Peter, and Christopher Bird. 1973. The Secret Life of Plants. New York: Harper & Row.