Funky Nature Scenes at Gnarly Vines

Kate Hill Cantrill likes to create art that literally grows off of walls.

Her surreal combinations of live moss and dried plants add an earthy, slightly psychedelic touch to the search for a nice bottle of Shiraz in the wine shop. Her works are colorful collages of living moss, lichen and succulents with dried bark and gnarled, twisted sticks recreating what she calls “little worlds.”

“Some people call my work living walls, but I think mine are more decorative, more purely aesthetic,” said Cantrill. “They even smell good after you water them!”

And the ingredients of her miniscule nature scenes even come from the neighborhood. She occassionally snags moss from Commodore Barry Park.

“They have great mosses there,” she said.

There are also driftwood and shells from Staten Island, tree parts from her boyfriend’s mother’s garden Upstate and her friends around the country drop natural elements in the mail to her.  

Cantrill, who lives in Fort Greene, started working with mosses as art when she lived in Austin, Texas. When she moved to New York she missed the smell and the feel of the great outdoors. She said that bringing nature into her home, especially plants that stay green all year and fit into her small apartment, make her happy and is the inspiration for her work. 

And if you're a true believer in the power of plants, there is an extra benefit: some nature-lovers contentd that living walls provide more oxygen, promote healthier living. (Fort Greene Patch could not verify the science behind this claim). Cantrill’s work follows in this vein, but add a lively artistic element.

So far, she has sold five of the works at Gnarly Vines. One of the buyers, Libby Shapiro was a huge fan.

“If I could live in a forest I would, but this is as close as I can get,” said Shapiro

It's not the first time Brian Robinson, the owner of Gnarly Vines,  has heard this type of comment from customers.

“People say that these are materials and textures you see underneath you — it's interesting to see them on a vertical plane,” he said.

Cantrill's art is on display at Gnarly Vines at 350 Myrtle Ave. between Carlton Avenue and Adelphi Street. (718) 797-3183.