Chicago Botanic Garden
Research, Art installation, Graphic design, Illustration, Typeface design
2024
In collaboration with Essentials Creative
Featured in Antennae Magazine, Issue 64, Queering Nature
Rhizomatic is a collaborative art installation between Essentials Creative collective and the scientists and staff at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The project is part of the Lost and Found exhibition taking place throughout the Garden featuring five artworks by different artists. Rhizomatic is inspired by the rhizome as a philosophical concept developed by theorists Deleuze and Guattari. The installation weaves together cultural and scientific stories about diversity and collaboration. Featured plants in the artwork include ginkgo biloba, pawpaw, horsetail, white sage, eastern prairie fringed orchid, kernza, and amaranth. We aim to contribute to multicultural perspectives on plants, share the Garden’s scientific research, and explore rhizomes as a metaphor for interconnectedness.
Photo by Fabian Villa
Video by Steven Casanova
The artwork is presented in its entirety at the Fruit and Vegetable Garden's Stone Orchard. A selection of ten tapestries were also installed at the Garden's Farm on Ogden location.
Installation at Farm on Ogden, Photo by Steven Casanova
Learn more about the custom typeface design here.
Essentials Creative
Graphic Designer: Misa Yamamoto
Visual Artist: Fabian Leon Villa
Lighting Designer & Videographer: Steven Casanova
Chicago Botanic Garden
Exhibitions and Programs Production Manager: Gabriel Hutchison
Director of Interpretation: Elory Rozner
Director, Interpretive Programs: Kristie Webber
Interpretations Designer : Wendy Griffiths
Senior Director, Plant Biology: Pat Herendeen
Associate Conservation Genomics Scientist: Suzy Strickler
Conservation Scientist, Soil and Mycorrhizal Ecology: Louise Egerton
Horticulturist : Lisa Hilgenberg
Seed Bank Manager: David S. Sollenberger
Conservation Scientist: Jeremie Fant
