In our woodsy Hudson Valley lives, all of us have likely encountered the unassuming but virulent plant known as poison ivy. Whether we can identify it in the field or not, the plant is easily recognizable by its leaves, which come in a form of three with the signature “thumbs” spotted on the outer leaves.

The first thing landowners do when they spot this plant on their property is try to eradicate it, either by manually pulling out the plant or spraying toxic chemicals to kill it. What is widely misunderstood about poison ivy is its integral role in the ecosystem.

Marielena Ferrer-Harrington of Kingston is an MFA student studying sculpture at SUNY New Paltz and has been conducting experiments with poison ivy for the last 18 months to prove that this stigmatized plant has not only ecological but artistic value too. The culmination of her work will result in a three-piece installation called “At Arm’s Length,” which will be presented at the Dorsky Museum at SUNY New Paltz from May 17-21.

“It is rare to see poison ivy in a healthy landscape,” Ferrer-Harrington told Kingston Wire. “The role of poison ivy in the ecosystem is to balance the nutrients in the soil, it’s a part of a species called successional plants. The poison ivy roots release nutrients into the soil and other species of plants can grow and take over and then it dies. As it decomposes it also brings more nutrients to the soil.”

Ferrer-Harrington, who is originally from Venezuela and Spain and moved to Kingston in 2011, has a background in social work and working with immigrants and other unrecognized groups. She found her passion in the arts, specifically sculpture. During a class in her BFA program at SUNY New Paltz, she was instructed to work with whatever she could find outdoors. Having come from a country where poison ivy doesn’t grow as rampantly as it does in the states, Ferrer-Harrington was struck by the reaction of her instructor and classmates to this plant, equating it to the reactions of people to those who have been socially excluded in society.

“People are afraid of it [poison ivy] and it is precisely those kind of attitudes that made me think, ‘What can I do with poison ivy?’ Everybody thought I was crazy, but I observed and learned about it and what to do if you touch it and why it is we have a reaction to it.”

The substance that provokes the classic and very itchy physical reaction to the plant is called urushiol, which affects around 80 percent of people who come into contact with the plant. The sap can also linger on clothes and surrounding plants, making it difficult to protect yourself from exposure. What Ferrer-Harrington discovered in her studies is that urushiol references the traditional Japanese lacquer called urushi, which is also made from a sap of the same composition as the sap found in poison ivy.

After lengthy experimentation and extracting and harvesting the sap from the plant, which in itself proved to be a feat all its own, Ferrer-Harrington was able to recreate the traditional lacquer to use as a coating for her sculptures. The difficulty in extracting the sap is in part because Ferrer-Harrington found that the way to collect the most sap was by cutting the poison ivy vine, which in turn kills the plant. In an effort to prevent this from happening, she had to meticulously score the vine and collect the sap as it slowly dripped out. Once it comes into contact with oxygen it turns black and coagulates.

“The purpose of urushiol is to cover the wood quickly so the plant doesn’t ‘bleed out.’ To keep it usable I use test tubes and keep it dark to prevent coagulation. I also need to filter it as there are a lot of impurities in the sap. After I filter the sap, I use that to cover the sculpture.” In total, Ferrer-Harrington was able to collect only 5 milliliters of sap for her project.

The main sculpture of her art show is a small hand she carved made from a poison ivy vine that is lacquered with the sap. Following this, she also created a small gem out of sap. “I wanted to have a gem to represent poison ivy as a hidden diamond that we don’t appreciate because we don’t take time to see what poison ivy is doing for the environment. Also, I see this relating to socially excluded people who aren’t valued in society but have essential jobs.”

Lastly, Ferrer-Harrington created a textile piece with the poison ivy leaves, using a process she learned to preserve the leaves so they wouldn’t wilt. The result of this project was a shroud, referencing the word indigenous people used for poison ivy because it heals the soil around it. The shroud is Ferrer-Harrington’s version of a healing blanket. The result was over 700 leaves sewn together to create the cascading textile piece.

Kingston Wire also spoke to John Messerschmidt, the owner of Poison Ivy Patrol, a 15-year-old Hudson Valley-based poison ivy removal business which focuses on manual removal of poison ivy over using chemicals, like Roundup, that can damage the soil further. Messerschmidt said poison ivy has other beneficial qualities, such as the food it provides to birds migrating south for the winter.

“In the fall, right as birds are beginning to migrate from the north further south, that’s when the poison ivy seeds reach maturity and when they’re the tastiest. The birds eat the seeds — they’re highly nutritious and allow them to make it through the winter on their migration. All the way down the coast they fertilize the seeds.”

Ferrer-Harrington is likely the first to prove her hypothesis of converting poison ivy into a high-quality lacquer, and her show is possibly the first exhibition of poison ivy art. To learn more about her exhibition, check out the Dorsky Museum’s website here https://www.newpaltz.edu/museum/exhibitions/current.html.