My work is inspired by the unseen and the undernoticed. During the day (and sometimes night), I work in science. But on the margins, my mind drifts to artistic visions, human connections, and wondrous fancies. Plants are the prism through which I see everything. All is connected.
The nerdy side of me wants to uncover secrets of the patterns and relationships among living forms. The artsy side of me wants to reimagine them. And, sometimes, I just want to complain about my fruit trust issues.
Regardless of what door you walk through on this site, my hope is to infuse you with planty curiosity. In modern settings, we are often disconnected from real, pulsing life–the plants, the bugs, the bees, and each other. Plants can reconnect us with this thing we are lucky to witness: life.
Things and Stuff
Sea Heart / Beach Garbage
Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts
January – March 2025
Sea Heart / Beach Garbage was a collection of doodles I made during winter when colors are rare and visible life even rarer. Inspired by plants visited under microscopes, beachcombing, and hoarding tendencies as well as a desire to color in lines of my own creation, this exhibit was an adult coloring book written by lonely amoebas reaching for signs of spring.
UW-Milwaukee Greenhouse
2018 – Present
The UWM Greenhouse is a magical place. I began volunteering there after becoming a UWM employee in 2018. The Greenhouse showcases biodiverse species representing the full evolutionary spectrum, from primitive mosses and liverworts to cycads to flowering plants. Rooms with different habitats, including desert and tropical, house nearly 700 plant species of over 110 plant families, including several that are rare or endangered in the wild. The collection has been maintained for more than 50 years and includes plants obtained from the wild, trades with other universities or conservatories, and seeds.
Alice’s Garden Urban Farm
2016 – 2024
Some of my best moments were spent at Alice’s Garden, a community garden at the center of Milwaukee broaching diverse and segregated neighborhoods. My mother and I rented plots there for many years, growing everything from sweet potatoes to garlic to artichokes. We were are often referred to as the “farmers” because of our many vegetable, herb, and flower plots. Alice’s Garden is a social intersection where many different people enjoy a shared appreciation of life, food, and plants in a welcoming space. In 2021, I held Grow Curious workshops there to have fun playing in the garden.