Artist Ellie Irons documents her travels to Natchez, Mississippi, to meet the American kudzu plant on the contested terrain it has colonized.
The kudzu plant—a climbing vine notorious for its rapid growth—has a long history of co-evolution with humans, having been both championed and vilified since arriving in the Americas from East Asia in the nineteenth century. This rollercoaster of American engagement with kudzu makes it an apt focal point for approaching questions around nativeness and belonging, human exceptionalism, multispecies solidarity, and ecocide. In this essay, interweaving text with photography and film, artist Ellie Irons documents her travels to Natchez, Mississippi, to meet kudzu. With the guidance of plants both native and migrant, Irons finds space to re-pattern herself as a cohabitant and collaborator in ecosystem regeneration.