Saguaro Land: Turning pieces of the Sonoran Desert into art

And now, we continue our series on the Sonoran Desert, Saguaro Land.

Today, we’re foraging the desert with an artist who actually uses pieces of the Sonoran Desert in her work.

Mayme Kratz grew up about 60 miles east of San Diego, on the edge of the Anza Borrego Desert. She says it was part of her landscape growing up — and part of the reason she was drawn to Phoenix.

She currently has an exhibit called “Dark Garden” at Lisa Sette Gallery in Phoenix. In it, she incorporates parts of plants and other desert creatures into her art.

The Show met up with Kratz at the gallery to talk more about her work and began by talking about the difference between the desert in which she grew up and the one in which she now lives.

“Dark Garden” is on display at Lisa Sette Gallery in Phoenix through April 2023.

Mayme Kratz and Lisa Sette Gallery

Full conversation

MAYME KRATZ: Well, initially, I thought that the Sonoran Desert was kind of hostile. And once I started investigating and getting out into the landscape, I found that it was extremely fragile and delicate. And it's taught me to do a lot of close looking. so I didn't miss anything because things are hidden. They're not in your face necessarily. And I think that it's just a beautiful place with the very large sky.

MARK BRODIE: And the desert plays a pretty important role in your artwork, right? I mean, can you tell me a little bit about how you use your surroundings and specifically this place to create your art?

KRATZ: Yes, well, my work is very much about the landscape. And I do what's called a kind of desperate foraging within the city, because things are disappearing as the city gets built up. And it's harder and harder to find plant life and animal remains. So I've been going out farther into the landscape to find what I need. But for me, it's a very spiritual place. And the work is about that, about the spirit of the desert. Like this piece, for instance, this large diptych.

The plant life was found near the railroad tracks, and it's probably considered, I'm not sure if it's an invasive species or not, but I end up finding a lot of things growing that don't belong here, and so I harvest them, at least within the city. And if I go farther out, then I find things that are native, and I can use those. And so inside this piece, you'll see rattlesnake ribs, and cicada wings and other things that are hidden in there that are from the landscape.

BRODIE: What do you use the significance of actually using items from the desert as opposed to just depicting them but not actually having them in the piece?

KRATZ: Well, for me, I have to have the real thing. And it's always been that way.

BRODIE: So you mentioned that you initially thought the Sonoran Desert was very hostile. I'm wondering how that perception changed for you. Like what changed about that to you?

KRATZ: Oh, when I started going out into the landscape, I would find things, treasures and plant life and beautiful, delicate flowers that you can't even imagine how they could grow in that area. And I think it started there. And then the very large sky was part of it too. I tried to I considered moving to Seattle because I was doing a lot of work in hot glass at one point. But I didn't feel as creative there. And when I'm here in the desert, I feel like I have a satellite dish on my head. And it's just this funnel and all the information is coming in. And it only happens here. And I think it's something about the desert.

BRODIE: Yeah, why do you think that is?

KRATZ: I think the desert's a spiritual place. I think that it not only creates an actual thirst for water or moisture, it creates a thirst for a lot of things.

BRODIE: Do you see the Sonoran Desert as being maybe slightly different in that respect in any way from other deserts?

KRATZ: I do. I think it is. I mean, the desert that was on the edge of the landscape I grew up in it's not the same as the Sonoran Desert. it was, there was just, it didn't have the same effect on me either. So I think it is very different.

BRODIE: So when you go out foraging, do you have a sense in your mind of what you're looking for? Like, do you have a checklist or it's just whatever you find that kind of strikes your fancy?

KRATZ: It's whatever I find. You know, I'll sometimes hope for certain plant life, but it won't be the blooming season. And usually I find something new that I hadn't seen before.

BRODIE: Have you ever come across something that you think to yourself, I really should be able to do something with this, and for the life of you, just can't figure out how to incorporate it?

KRATZ: Absolutely. Yeah. It doesn't happen often, but usually if I'm attracted to something, it's because I know it will work. But every once in a while, I'll get like, I'll wrangle a big bunch of, you know, plant and bring it back, and I just can't get it to cooperate. So.

BRODIE: Do you think the kind of work that you do would be possible in a different place?

KRATZ: Maybe. It would have to be a drier climate, because the plant life, after I gather it, I have to dry it, and I press it and dry it. And it has to be done just right, otherwise it will mold. So in certain climates like, you know, the Northwest, probably not a good idea. maybe New Mexico would work. It has a lot of plant life that interests me.

BRODIE: Well, you mentioned that. You've been here, obviously, for a long time and have been having to go further and further out to find your stuff. I wonder how the evolution of not just the Phoenix area, but I guess of the desert itself is reflected in your work.

KRATZ: Well, it's harder and harder to find things, so I have to go farther and farther out. And some things that I used to rely on, or hope to discover, because every time I find them, it's like a new discovery. I don't often find them anymore. So, and the other thing is, the more moisture we get, the more blossom we get, the bigger the plant life. So this year is bountiful.

BRODIE: Yeah, what have you found? Have you been going out this winter, this early spring to find stuff?

KRATZ: Yeah, things are blooming. I have collected a lot of that really invasive glow chamomile that grows everywhere. I've got some of that drawing now, rabbit brush as well. And there's some low weeds that grow on the ground called spurge. And I have been turning those into nests.

BRODIE: What would you say that you have learned about the Sonoran Desert over the course of your artistic career doing this kind of work?

KRATZ: Well, that's a really good question. I feel like it's just such a part of me that it's hard to think of it any differently. I think I have to go back to saying that it's just a very delicate, fragile place. And I think people don't realize that unless they go out in the landscape. And I feel very protective of it.

BRODIE: It's so interesting. It seems like your perception of the desert has done a complete 180 from when you got here, where, you know, you said it was harsh, almost like you needed to protect yourself from it. Now it sounds like you need to protect it from us.

KRATZ: Absolutely.

BRODIE: Mayme Kratz is a valley-based artist. Her exhibit, Dark Garden, is on display at Lisa Setti Gallery in Phoenix through this month.