MOTHER NACRE, BIO DESIGN CHALLENGE WINNER 2023
Thinking about materials we preserve, especially as heirlooms, the pearl came up over and over. It is at once a token of generational love and a symbol of craft tradition, but also a visceral reminder that extraction (of earth, labor, and currency) is the core of the “precious materials” industry. Mother Nacre’s approach to bacterial nacre looks at the oyster as a role model for handling our most valued plastic, and uses bacteria to develop both a multi-layer coating and a bulk material that have properties of mollusk nacre
This process happens outside of an ocean; in collaboration with, not inside, an organism; and outside of industrial environments.
HUMAN SEMIOTICS
2022 (35 x 50)
TC-2 woven animation frames, cotton fabric
Collaboration with research done by Rebecca Schulman at the Hopkins Extreme Material Institute
Schulman Labs is working with synthetic DNA, programming exchange reactions to form desired patterns. This process takes DNA out of the context of the body to use it in a way comparable to a circuit. I wanted to reposition this research in relation to the body using a DNA pattern developed to mimic a stick figure. I translated the simulation into woven animation frames. These were then turned into a quilt, allowing you to hold this abstract process to your body.
GROWTH PATTERNS
2022 (14” x 16”)
Laser cut paper, plexiglass, standoff screws, petri dishes containing E-coli cultures edited with CRISPR
This work used E-coli bacteria, I edited with CRISPR to appear white. In this process I was thinking about the ethics of this new found control we have over living things. I am comparing this heavily modulated organicism to a history of idyllic, controlled images of the natural world used throughout the Arts and Craft movement. This work is a way for me think critically about the mediums I am engaging with and their complex histories.
KEEP IT, IT LOOKS BETTER ON YOU
2022
Foam bioplastic, bacterial cellulose, metal eye hooks, cotton thread, estrogen
This work is building off of research done by Mary Tsang at the MIT media lab. This project aimed to create speculative ways in which hormones could become an open source resource. I built a filter designed by Mary which extracts hormones from urine. I then soaked a bacterial cellulose pellicle I grew in my estrogen. Bacterial cellulose is a permeable material, meaning when used as a fabric it could transfer hormones to the skin. I made these into six circular patches imbedded within a shirt made of foam bioplastic. This work is imagining a future where we could grow our own clothes which act as a second skin, passing biological materials between garment and wearer. In this future, hormone access would become accessible the public outside of medical institutions allowing us to share hormones and achieve a sense of power and personal agency over our bodies and gender expression.
RESEARCH AND PROCESS
Foam bioplastic made from vegetable glycerin, beef gelatin, water and soap.
While still hot, it is poured into molds made of plastic sheets and a thin later of non stick plastic to make uniform patterned fabric
Bacterial cellulose is a layer of cellulosic material grown from a bacterial culture and growth medium. This is similar to kombucha leather. The wet pellicle is extremely absorbent and can be dried down into a leather material.
The silica beads and filter are conditioned with water and methanol before urine is poured through. Then another round of methanol is poured, collecting the steroid molecules left over from from urine. This is collected and the methanol is evaporated off into a separate container, leaving behind the isolated steroid molecules containing hormones.
PORTRAIT OF A KISS
2022
Lips cast in nutrient agar, bacteria cultures grown from kisses
MICROBIOME
2022 (6" x 12")
Video projected on petri dish, bacteria cultures taken from various parts of my body
BIO DOILY
2021 (2' x 2')
Crochet doily cast in a geletin based bio plastic
THREAD THE NEEDLE
2020 (20" x 38")
Quilted fabric, embroidery thread, petridish containing bacteria cultures from threads licked
