Garden Connections
[Ongoing]
Interview notes on photograph from “Uncle Leo”’s garden
Garden Connections is a project that traces the web of relationships that are built up over the exchange of seeds, home-grown veggies and gardening know-how in the Asian American communities of Houston. Through documentary mixed media zines and garden exchange events, I aim to expand on the healing potential of these everyday practices and to celebrate the concrete bonds that help keep communities together.
Starting in Spring 2023, I’ll be interviewing Houston-area Asian American home-gardeners to tour their spaces and to gather gardening tips. In addition to plants, we will discuss related topics such as family immigration stories, climate resilience, and community building. I will also be highlighting instances of creative reuse, which is a common feature in these spaces.
Based on these interviews, I will create a series of seed packet-shaped zines with text, photography and other artistic responses. I’ll also be organizing plant exchange events through which the gifting and bartering of garden goods that happens amongst friends can expand to the public. The events will also be opportunities for zine distribution.
Some of my goals with this project are to encourage more people to reskill and localize for some portion of their daily needs, and to reconnect to the land. I hope to amplify Asian American voices in the conversations around regenerative practices and community building. Personally, the project is a tribute to the social network that has supported my family through the years, especially for my parents’ process of transplanting to America.
See Garden Connections zines online as they are released. Hard copies (8.5x11 inches quarter-folded) are available upon request.
Garden Connections is made possible with support from The Idea Fund. The Idea Fund is a re-granting program administered by DiverseWorks, Aurora Picture Show, and Project Row Houses and funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
The first zine volume from Garden Connections and accompanying artwork will be on exhibition at the Houston City Hall rotunda (901 Bagby St, Houston, TX 77002) from April 17-May 31, 2023. There will be an opening reception & plant exchange event in the rotunda will be on April 19, 11am-1pm. Read more about the exhibition in the blog, and the event via Eventbrite. The exhibition is presented by the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA).