Uprooted is set amidst a vibrant sculptural and site-specific installation bringing together various techniques such as performance, hand drawn animation, lyrical narration and musical composition. Inspired by the Yokohama Triennial’s theme and the local premature cherry blossoms that signal climate change, Verkade created a sculptural installation that captures the essence of nature’s fragility and resilience. Visitors enter into an immersive sculptural installation consisting of larger than life pink flowers hanging down from the ceiling. The 2D cut-out floral shapes mirror the absurdist garden in which the film narrative unfolds as the protagonist is visited by hybrid organisms and is taken on a psychedelic rite-de-passage.

Verkade’s artistic practice is well-known for blending personal stories with big-picture ideas, mixing digital techniques withhandmade craftsmanship, and exploring societal issues across emotional landscapes. For Uprooted she has taken a similar path by exploring her own experience of recently becoming a mother and the uncertainties of raising a child in a world facing social and environmental crises. Moving beyond guilt tripping and taking a sensitive approach, she follows the philosophical and sympathetic understanding that we cannot separate ourselves from nature or from other animals, but must re-imagine and maintain our symbiotic relationship to all life. She urges us to rethink our relationship with the natural world around us and how we can better care for it.