Wild Hedges studies the ecological and socio-political complexities of the prickly pear cactus and the cochineal insect across multiple geographies, communities, and temporalities. The project uses this engagement to collectively experiment with the material possibilities of the cactus in building, weaving, and cooking and with the cochineal as a pigment in order to cultivate practices of care around changes in our environments.  

Throughout the project, the artistic practice of the group will be research-based and community-oriented, composed of archival and on-the-ground field research, material experimentation with the cactus and the cochineal, public workshops to cultivate new collective practices around them, and exhibitions and publications to communicate our findings.