An Incomplete History of a Small and Mysterious Tree is an installation examining the impacts of settler colonialism on the Franklin Tree (Franklinia alatamaha).
In 1803, plant hunter John Lyon documented the last sighting of the Franklin Tree in the wild, through this research I came to learn that John Lyon was a distant relative. Using the histories and archives tied to botanical expeditions I work to reveal the discrepancies and biases of power that surround this tree.
How has a desire for knowledge, progress and expansion impacted non-human ecologies? How can research and making be an act toward a critical remembering—a step towards understanding the complexity of human actions on nonhuman lives?