Cowgirls Are Forever is a speculative new body of work by artist Merinda Davies, responding to urgent global declines in natural pollinators. With pollinating species decreasing by 25–60% over the past two decades, the exhibition imagines a near future where traditional systems of agricultural production are at risk of collapse.
Davies’ work focuses on non-agricultural plants that may be overlooked by emerging technological pollination solutions. In this imagined future, the “cowgirl” becomes a human pollinator — a subcontractor for the Bureau of Mutualisms — collaborating with flowers to support their reproduction while bees, moths and butterflies are repopulated within laboratory environments.
Developed during Davies’ recent research exchange residency with Movement Art Practice in Ōtautahi, Aotearoa, the exhibition invites audiences to reflect on ecological responsibility, multispecies care, and the structures required for genuine environmental restoration.
Cowgirls Are Forever is proudly supported by City of Gold Coast through the Arts Development Fund.
