Tell Me There’s a Mathematical Equation for Being Alive

University Center Gallery, Missoula MT, September 2017

Acrylic on paper, Tags, String, Arduino electronics with ultrasonic sensor and variable brightness lightbulb. Approx 25’ x 40’

In collaboration with electronic engineer Brian Givens. Title from poem by Mark Gibbons

Strips of brown craft paper suspended and draped from wall to wall create an artificial ceiling in the exhibition space. Paper strips are suspended closer to the ground on one side than the other, creating a passageway meandering through the gallery, featuring paintings of approximately 100 plants with notable survival strategies—from Mucuna holtonii which uses a smooth petal to reflect sound toward its echo-locating bat pollinator, to Erodium cicutarium, a seed with a moisture-sensitive awl that drills itself into the ground, planting itself. Each image corresponds to a tag which provides the scientific and common name of the plant, and a brief description of its survival adaptation.