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„Birgit Kratzheller combines an apprecication for local history, natural beauty and botany in her work. From large public outdoor projects in her native Germany to colorful illuminated indoor installations, Birgit Kratzheller presents and dramatically highlights the natural world around her.

The peculiar and „grotesque“ forms of sprouting potato varieties are explored in two of her projects. „Pataters“ reflects the relationship of this important crop to historic agricultural buildings near the city of Stade, Germany and „Potato Boxes“ explores the surprising range of potato varieties developed in the region. The potato, presented as a living creature trapped in her illuminated boxes, becomes somehow alien and distinctly un-food like.

Other projects such as „The Wind Cradle“ (Die Windwiege) and Eva 390 involve the senses and encourage new ways of seeing. The Wind Cradle, a large wooden web hung from the trees in a German forest creates a mysterious and magical space from which to view the sky and overhanging canopy. The enigmatic „Eva 390“ was best seen from an airplane but best experienced firsthand as a corn field labyrinth.

The tree-high „Spindles“ give remenbrance and sensual presence to a material that had been the base for the local fabric production for centuries. „Tasty bulbs“ were the frames for an edible portrait of a landscape: the presentation of a collection of tidbits made from typical savage plants of ten different biotopes of the landscape.

Through all her projects, Birgit Kratzheller helps open new perspectives on nature, local history and the land.

Sam Bower, www.greenmuseum.org