Soil chromatography is like taking a photo of the compounds and bacteria that make up a substance.

Soil chromatography is often used by farmers to qualitatively assess soil health. I’ve spent the past two years turning this lesser known soil science test into a more expansive artistic technique. I use soil chromatography to illuminate the vitality of the world around us. Each color and striation signifies a separate compound or bacteria present in the tea, fruit, or plant I used to make the chromatograms (one-of-a-kind prints made using chromatography). 

This listing is for a giclee print (aka a digitally printed copy) of a chromatogram I made for my body of work titled The Land Loves Us. You will receive a 10" x 10" unframed reproduction print. Note that while I have uploaded photos that match the prints' colors as closely as I can, colors may vary among different computer monitors. What appears on your monitor may not reflect the exact shades of color in the print.


Red Tea blended with a White Chrysanthemum that turned Green overnight

When the British exported stolen tea from China to Britain, they mistranslated the words "hong cha" or "red tea", into "black tea." Most of the tea sold in the Global North as black tea is actually red tea; black tea is a whole other category of tea.

The original chromatogram of this print was made with red tea that was blended with a white chrysanthemum flower. High quality tea can be steeped several times. I spent a day brewing this tea, and then the went to make a few final cups the next morning. However, I found that the chrysanthemum had turned celadon green overnight! While I certainly wasn't going to drink more of this tea, I didn't want it to go to waste. So I made a series of chromatograms with it. They had beautiful, silvery areas on them that my other red tea chromatograms didn't so I assume that those areas came from the green chrysanthemum. In this reproduction, the metallic areas appear as a dark green. Because from certain angles, the silvery areas on the chromatogram appear green.

Free postcard!

Every purchase of a physical item receives a free postcard. One per order. The current postcards include a picture of one of my favorite chromatograms, Chinese Chive Roots and Stems, that I grew in my community garden plot in Chicago.

Giving Back

My work with chromatography is intrinsically related to the land, and some of my chromatograms are made using food and plants grown on stolen land. Indigenous communities are the land's strongest defenders, so 10% of each chromatogram sale gets donated to Indigenous communities.