PRESSED PLANTS AS PORTRAITS OF PLACE

Portraits of Place is an ongoing series. These pieces are a tribute to the land, and to our relationship with it- they are a visualization of not only our interactions, but also an echo of all that came before, every hand that tilled the ground, planted or chopped a tree, every mouth that grazed a plant, every bird that dropped a seed. The story of the land is in the plants that grow there, and these pieces tell that story.

Collected botanical material from the designated land or garden is meticulously dried and preserved, then arranged on and adhered to acrylic. Each leaf is placed with careful consideration into an intricate pattern, referencing the inherent patterns underlying everything in the natural world- echoed in our own lived experiences, and the interconnectivity of all things. 

Once the arrangement is finished, the acrylic is gently laid over watercolor paper painted with a UV sensitive coating of iron salts. The paper and acrylic are laid outside in the sun, where the leaves create shadows on the coated paper, creating areas where the sun’s rays don’t penetrate. When the print is fully exposed, the acrylic is removed and the watercolor paper is rinsed and dried, oxidizing to a deep blue where touched by sunlight and remaining white to light blue where the shadows were cast. This is the cyanotype printing process, the original method of creating blueprints. 

GRACE FARMS FOUNDATION, NEW CANAAN, CT

HORTUS BOTANICAL GARDEN & ARBORETUM, STONE RIDGE, NY

MAYMONT PARK, RICHMOND VA

PRIVATE RESIDENCE, RICHMOND VA

CHISMAN CREEK PARK, TIDEWATER, VIRGINIA

PRIVATE RESIDENCE, RICHMOND VA