Vanessa Harden is a jewellery designer, exploring the concept of Jewellery as Functional Gardening Tools for the urban Guerilla Gardener.

Guerilla Gardening is the act of Gardening in an urban environment; for example in a pothole; at the foot of a road sign; in a construction site; on a roof, in front of a skyscraper or even in a shopping trolley.

Guerilla Gardening is - technically (...ironically) - illegal!

               We tear down nature to rebuild our hard, dead, lifeless urban environments. Obviously it’s fine to sacrifice life so that we can keep on living, right?

But just because we’ve moved in doesn’t mean that nature has to move out. 

We all have the capacity to nurture life. To own pots, gardens and plants. And to grow plant-life. And they are in fact fundamental to our own lives- fuelling our ecosystems and feeding the bottom of the food chain.

But when space is limited and expensive, why should the nurture of nature be confined to only the space that we own? What if we have no space?

Whilst we own generally limited amounts of our own expensive space; vast areas of public urban spaces stay dead, lifeless and barren.... 

               In this artwork I wanted to show that we are nature. We need plants and they need us. The contrast between the dead, cold, concrete landscape that humans have created, with the vibrancy of the plant life that we can generate- if we choose to do so.

The key themes are Connectivity; Potential; Destruction; Contrast and Power.

I wanted to depict the skeletal ghosts of plant-life but the human capacity to generate life.

Because we have a choice.... We cleared out the plants so that we could live, but that doesn’t mean they are gone for good. 

We absolutely can harmonise urbanisation with the earth; and use our abilities to make the earth a better place for us being alive, not a worse one.

               At a time when pollution is spiralling out of control; global warming catastrophes are looming and over-population is exploding across the globe, the importance of plants, and gardening, has never been more significant. 

If you want the earth to breathe; if you want ecosystems to thrive; if you want to eat; if you want to live!.... then take responsibility and nurture life. 

IMAGINE if every single person took the responsibility to nurture and care for their own area of ‘living’ space (in the literal sense!) If every person that is contributing to over-population actually gave straight back to the earth rather than sponged the earth dry! For every person there was at least 1 squared meter more of green.

               “Tools for Her” are conceptual- expressing the idea that we can connect ourselves with the earth on a daily basis just by choosing to wear jewellery that is not only beautiful, but absolutely functional.

Something so simple as a ring that is also a tool can immediately give you power! 

THAT is real beauty.

Choose well.

https://www.emmakendalldesign.com/the-subversive-gardener