Camellia Bowl

Fused Glass Rollup, Transplant 2025

6.5 x 22.5 x 22.5 cm, 1.18kg

Heather Kremen explores the link between plants and people - the stories of belonging, migration, and memory that bloom in every garden.
New Zealand’s native flora is striking and unique, often appearing unfamiliar to those newly arrived on its shores. For generations, immigrants have brought plants with them longing for the comfort of what once was home. These plants, some grown for food or income, others simply for beauty, speak to the deep human need to root ourselves in new soil while holding onto our past.

While camellias are native to Asia, they here brought to New Zealand in the 1840s by Europeans who enjoyed their beauty. But, people keep bringing over new varieties. A few years ago a friend took me to Zealong Tea Estate in Gordonton, where I learned that tea actually comes from a specific type of Camellia. As I’m an avid tea drinker, I was very intrigued. While the tea estate imported all theirs from China, I was lucky enough to find one at Mitre 10, so I can grow my own tea now! Besides tea, white camellias are well known in New Zealand and appear on our $10 note, in reference to Kate Sheppard and the fight for the womens’ suffrage movement, which made New Zealand the first country in the world to allow women the right to vote! Camellia reminds me of my time living in Japan. And, they provide beautiful flowers in winter and spring. So different from the barren landscape of Minnesota in winter. Looking around my yard, I have over 10 varieties that feed the tui and korimako.