| Title | Global Salad: Famine Foods |
| Artist / Creator | Cathleen Casey |
| Press Name | aEthelred |
| Artist's Nationality | American |
| Place of Publication | Portland, OR |
| Publication Date | 2013 |
| Author of Text | Robert L. Freedman |
| Image Process | Laser printed |
| Medium / Materials | Walnut plaque base with green aluminum nameplate, antique china plate, 50’s fork, half of 50’s child’s globe |
| Paper Stock | Strathmore text-weight paper: 3 colors |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 8 x 10 x 6 inches |
| Edition Size | Unique |
| Signed & Numbered | Yes |
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Global Salad : Famine Foods is based on Robert L. Freedman’s compilation of thousands of plants that people all over the world will eat, or more accurately, are forced to eat during times of famine. These plants are not normally considered crops or edible but are consumed in times of famine. What began for Freedman as an undergraduate anthropology study in 1966 is now a comprehensive list of plants and the socio-anthropological aspects of human food habits.
Global Salad is presented as an ironic trophy for our country so rich with food. The “salad” in this piece consists of strips of paper, each with a plant listed with the Latin name, vernacular name and preparation of the plant or parts of the plant for food or usage as food. Some of the plants might temporarily fill the stomach but have deleterious long-term effects such as diarrhea, paralysis or are even fatally poisonous.
An example: Aesculus turbinata, Vernacular names: Japanese Horse Chestnut-Tochi-no-ki; Japan: processed into flour during the period of scarcity immediately following World War II.
Artist Bio
Attracted to social, political and cultural issues, Cathleen creates artist books to inform, illuminate and send a message. Intellectual components are mandatory and often references to nature. A Tribute to the Bee, artist book, was a response to the varroa mite which was destroying colonies of bees. She wanted to help people understand their plight, also an ecological disaster in the making. Cathleen recently had an artist book, OR-7 Journey, accepted with two others at the Illahe Gallery in Ashland, Oregon. She was inspired by a story on NPR about OR-7, the traveling gray wolf and the first wolf in California in 100 years. In addition to making people aware of him, she wants to help build his legend and hopefully pave the way for other wolves through people's awareness of both Journey and wolves in general. One of the side stories is that the route that Journey has taken is a natural back country migration corridor that conservation groups were specifically trying to preserve when they were fighting to add wilderness protections and stop clear-cutting. Journey has proven that the corridor works! unknown women, artist book, is Cathleen's tribute and a commemoration of unknown Japanese woman and the short lives of her three children from 1895-1900 from her brief diary in Revelations - Diaries of Women, edited by Mary Jane Moffat and Charlotte Painter. She honors unknown woman's hard work, devotion and love of her family. In her two artist books, Common Mullein and Klamath Basin Water Samples, for the Jefferson Nature Preserve and EcosInstitute, [Medford, OR] interpreted ecological data concerning global warming compiled by the EcosInstitute. She made a presentation to the community explaining her research, interpretation and reasons for the two books. Passim, artist book, features the minority members of the Lewis and Clark expedition and their highly important contribution to the success of the venture. It won an Honorable Mention from the National Parks Service and the City of Astoria in the national competition, Lewis and Clark Journey's End National Art Competition.