In 2021, I started making taste experiences in the form of ferments and syrups, with wild plants that I foraged in the 12,600 acres of water, salt marshes, freshwater and brackish water ponds, upland fields and woods, open bay and islands surrounding my residence on the land of the Lakawe or so called Rockaway Peninsula in New York City. They were made from Wild Mulberries, Queen Anne’s Lace flowers, Milkweed flowers, and Rugosa Rose petals.

These concoctions reflect my interest in exploring the ways that nature cares for our bodies, and how that understanding motivates our desire to care for nature in return.

I created an interactive installation involving these taste experiences at a performance party with creative collective GlitterMilk in Brooklyn, NY, and also served them at The Greenhouse Café in Far Rockaway, NY. Guests were encouraged to experience these plants through taste, smell, and color, many of which they had never heard of, and let the plants guide their experience that night. I enjoyed being a bystander while the bartenders and cafe attendants served the concoctions, and felt thrilled to overhear conversations in NYC nightlife and cafés that centered wild plants and personal sense experiences with them.

Photos by Leah Mendelson and Alexi Kim (Sidewalk Killa)