The “named after Men” project is a critique of patriarchy and colonialism in the botanical sciences. It consists of a database of 1026 plants that were named after male botanists. The website works as a framework to tell plant stories, which has been exemplified by the artist in an article published on the online magazine Futuress.org.
Embroidery Pieces
The cross-stitch composition “homage to the unnamed” (2022, Textile and embroidery – 34 x 49 cm) was part of the installation “Blacknuss – technologies of joy, care and intimacy”, by Luiza Prado and Obaro Ejimiwe at Kampnagel (Hamburg, Germany). It pays homage to four plants (Bertholletia excelsa, Carapa wohllebenii, Ficus erecta and Haemanthus deformis) that received names that honor white men, some of them directly connected to colonialism.
Homage to the unnamed, 2022. Textile and embroidery – 34 x 49 cm
The six-piece “herbarium series” reflects on fuzziness and incompleteness as properties of botanical databases. Pixelation and natural dyed yarns immediately disturb the value of an image made to support taxonomic classification.
