Greece and Cyprus-based artist Marina Genadieva is showing here a work that is radically isolated from the context of her general opus. Tautologically named "Dandelion" the representation of this wild edible weed is made of organza, thread and wire. It is photographed for the Proxy Gallery in such a way that it appears as a giant plant in a room. In fact, the dimensions of the work are 36 x 36 x 12 centimeters. Moreover, the work and the gallery are elevated to eye level, so the weed is no longer on the ground at our feet, but placed at the level where a painting would normally be.

The work is part of a long-term project in which Genadieva focuses on the natural elements in the no-man’s-land between the Greek and Turkish parts of Cyprus. Interestingly, the name in Greek translates as Dead Zone, and the artist wants to emphasize that the “dead zone” is not a void; that living plants and animals exist “free” among the active mines of this area. The work is political in that it locates its inspiration in a contested--and heavily guarded-- space between two borders; it is a “wild” territory that is both natural and dangerous. On the other hand, the representation of the wild dandelion plant here is explicitly non-natural. It is made of beautifully crafted translucent material, but it also insists on representing the browned decaying parts of the leaves in the front. In this way, the work questions the supposed opposition between politics and nature, living and dead zones, presenting life within war.