bee plant

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SEINet resource

mobiles in motion

noisy flowers

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seinet

collage 5

mobiles

say it with flowers

original comics

community work

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i eat the king and gain his memories

silver fern

website

Elsewheres

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For this project I would like to use the online resource <a href="https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">SEINet</a> to create a virtual collage and mapping of my own "DNA," based on what plants and flowers have been collected and documented at locations I have lived, and where my parents and grandparents are from.This project is inspired from a conversation I had on a walk with a botanist, where he told me that when testing the DNA of a plant, the results show not only just the plant's own genetic mapping, but also every organism that has ever come into contact with that plant. I am fascinated by the idea that all living matter is affected by everything that touches it, and also believe that every experience a person has then becomes a part of that person, and a part of their story.I will use the map feature on <a href="https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">SEINet</a> to locate the collected flora of a specific area where I have lived and where my ancestors have lived, and then compile the images I find into a digital collage with information about both the location and the plant itself. Some of the locations I will look into include the birthplaces of my grandparents in Caguas and Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, and Rotterdam, Netherlands, as well as places I have lived which include: Brooklyn, NY, Singapore, Kathmandu, Nepal, Tucson, AZ, Albuquerque, NM and Las Vegas, NV.Through the act of my research, I hope not only to learn about the biodiversity that surrounds me daily, but also hope to find connections and similarities between the places that have shaped me.By doing so I hope to illustrate a new way of knowing oneself outside of traditional bordered lands, find connections between opposing parts of heritage, and encourage others to think about their bloodlines as they relate to the natural elements of the earth, rather than the manmade delineations of borders, heritage and culture.I believe this project will enable me to take my floral obsession to a new and deeper level, and I hope to encourage those who view it to begin to question the ways they think about traditional geographic mapping and DNA testing. This project will also be a continuation of my ongoing work of understanding identity and culture as a person of mixed ethnicities.I also hope that this project will impact the artistic and scientific communities and encourage each to think of new ways of presenting information.The Inspiration Fund will help me to grow and reach outside of my comfort zone by engaging in physical research at my local herbarium. If awarded enough funding, hopefully it will also allow me the opportunity to visit herbariums at other locations.

project description

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U of A Herbarium

dani alvarez - imagination fund proposal

a collage and mapping of personal and ancestral experiences in specific locations using imagery of the plant life found and documented in each place.