Invasive Plant Potions, and Other Discontents

2025-ongoing, silver gelatin prints, 11 x 14”

This project experiments with plant developer as an alternative to traditional black and white darkroom chemistry. Developer is mixed from plant species identified as ‘invasive or noxious’ weeds in New York that grow in my garden or foraged. The term ‘invasive weed' can have many meanings. For this project, I am defining invasive weed as non-native plant species that has been extracted and reintroduced by humans to a new environment. The non-native species out competes native species to the point where it becomes dominant and detrimental to the larger ecological system. Some potions are also mixed from leftover plant matter produced by my vegetable, perennial herb, and pollinator plant garden—stuff that would normally go into a compost pile after harvest.