In the Winter of 2023, I had the opportunity to be an Artist in Residence at the Harrison Center for the Arts in Indianapolis. My work there focused on edible native plants and fungi found in Indiana. Learning where to safely find food in the wild and what plants you can grow easily in your own space is a great way to connect with your environment and your neighbors. In these paintings, I hope to celebrate the incredible diversity of plants in the community and encourage people to go out into nature and learn more about what plants can teach us.

Our lives are intertwined with plants every day in ways that we don’t often think about. With every breath we take, we breathe in oxygen produced by photosynthesis and breathe out carbon dioxide to start the cycle again. Plants feed us, directly and indirectly, through fruits, vegetables, and grains, and also by feeding the animals we consume. We build with them, learn from them, eat them, and breathe them. They protect us from natural disasters and the changing climate. Plants are not just an aesthetic backdrop – our lives are deeply intertwined with the species around us. Native plants are especially valuable for the unique ways they give back to their ecosystems. These species have spent over hundreds of years adapting to their particular environment and are essential to keeping our communities healthy.

Paying attention to the particularities of a community - whether it is made up of plants or people- is an act of love. I spent time earlier this year learning more about the neighborhood of Martindale-Brightwood as well as the ecology of the area. I learned about the swamp that much of the neighborhood now sits on, drained in the 1870’s as the community began to develop. I listened to many Greatriarchs talk about the neighborhood’s history of street trees and home gardens. I learned about the people who are working here now, protecting native plants, building community gardens, and teaching kids about the wonders of the natural world. There is so much depth and history here and so many people doing truly incredible work. It was such a gift to get to know more about the community, and I’m so excited to be able to share some of what I learned through this show.