The Visual Encyclopedia of Botanical Life
Each image in The Visual Encyclopedia of Botanical Life is created in the studio as a complex tableaux to tell a story about a given plant, flower, or cultural moment involving botany. A nearly black and white image of dozens of magnolias pays homage to the species as one of the earliest flowering plants at around 95,000,000 years old, surviving the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. The starkly striped red and white Semper august tulip takes center stage in another photograph, as at the height of the Dutch tulip market in the 1600s a single bulb was said to have cost more than a person’s home. Another image—created out of pressed dogwood flowers and dried fall-colored branches—pays homage to the flowering dogwood as the state flower of Virginia, which acts as a harbinger of both spring with its early blooms and fall with its deep red leaves. Plants have the most fascinating stories to tell, and artists have been captivated by them since we first put paint to stone. Through this project I shed light on our ancient and continuous relationship with botanical life.
The Magnolia Is One of the Most Ancient Flowering Plants on Earth at Around 95 Million Years Old
In 1639, Hans Bollongier Painted Still Life With Flowers, an Economic Impossibility Containing Fifteen Semper augustus Tulips, as Commentary on the Dutch Tulip Market Collapse of 1637
The State Flower of Virginia Is Actually a Tree—The Flowering Dogwood Acts as Harbinger of Both Spring and Fall With Its Early Blossoms and Changing Leaves
In the 1920s, Kate Sessions Proposed a Garden Renovation for the Athenaeum in La Jolla, CA, and Merrell Gage Created the Bronze Statue Young Girl Holding Book
Floral Still Life (Inverted Toille)
the visual encyclopedia of botanical life is an ongoing project