Alternafolia II

2022

65"H  x  39"W x 4”D

Porcelain ceramic with rare Earth oxide glazes

This installation is inspired by my love of botany and plant taxonomy, which I studied extensively while doing field work as an undergraduate biology major. We generally used Latin scientific names to record our observations while counting plants in forests and wetlands. The beauty of the Latin language is that it provides a short description of how a plant grows. “Alternafolia” is a slight variation on a Latin term for “alternating leaves”.

Each leaf is carved to illustrate the shape of plant cells with small dots on each cell suggesting the nucleus. The shape of plant cells reminds me of bricks and these rectangular forms are the architectural supports for the entire plant, much like bricks in a man-made building.