Our rapidly changing climates and expanding populations have challenged the pre-existing structures in place for meeting the demand for food and water. One solution, hydroponic farming systems, allows for accelerated agricultural production within compact urban centers, but these self-enclosed systems separate us from the land. Stitch Field offers an alternative to the plastic-filled warehouses of plants associated with hydroponic systems by using knitted sheep’s wool as substrate and replacing engineered crops with locally occurring plants.

Alice-Marie Archer hand-knits fibre sculptures that are each embedded with seeds, creating patterns suited to the needs of each seed species—whether it grows best in a divot, pocket, or row. For this site-specific installation at the Benton, the artist has chosen seeds of locally occurring California plants with either edible or medicinal properties.