BIO
I am a textile artist, natural dyer, weaver, & gardener based in Chicago, IL.
I grow as much of my dye material as I can in my small backyard garden alongside native plants, cut flowers, and food. I started gardening when I was very young thanks to my mom, who is one of the best gardeners I know. I still remember my first garden plot in our yard when I was 6 or 7 years old and picking out strawberries, sunflowers, and blue ageratum to grow that year. I love how plants hold memories and can instantly transport you back in time. My mom’s mom, my Grandma Gardner (thus Field & Gardner), was also a wonderful gardener and source of inspiration.
My practice is driven by curiosity and rooted in research, sustainability, and honoring the craft of artisan natural dyeing traditions. I’m interested in the intersection between art and science and inspired by the wonder found in the micro to the macro, from cicada wings to black holes. My work is largely process and materials based, and I grow much of my own dye plant material in Chicago. I am enchanted by nature and scientific discoveries, and working with plant matter, especially from my Chicago garden, deepens my own connection with the natural world.
I cherish the slowness that is required to notice the intricacies and small beauties in the ephemeral, routine, or discarded, and seeks to give attention and recognition to the overlooked or misunderstood. My work values and expresses curiosity, truly noticing the details in the world around you, and an understanding that there is always more to know. Finding meaning on our small planet in a vast, ever-expanding universe has the potential to overwhelm us, but instead I find joy and inspiration in the fact that it is truly miraculous we are here at all. My work aims to explore the wonder inherent in scientific understanding and to celebrate our continued human desire to expand upon, revisit, and revise what we know about our universe.