Prairie archive

2023

3.5” x 72” x 24”

Porcelain, prairie plants, velvet

As I visited the University of Kansas Field Station again and again I harvested prairie plants at different moments in the seasons. I dipped these in porcelain slip and fired them. The plants burned away leaving behind a white shell. Evoking bones or bleached coral these remnants are about the loss that occurs through translation specifically in scientific archives. How do we hold onto knowledge if these plants disappear?