I am a multidisciplinary artist, maker, story-teller, educator, curator, and student of herbalism from the SF Bay Area and living on unceded Muwekma Ohlone land (Oakland, CA).
My practice connects process + material storytelling to deepen + honor ancestral + collective relationships.
I primarily use craft based processes for the depth and emphasis on material as a form of storytelling, and process as energy transfer. Some of the processes include patchwork quilting, natural dyeing, photography, and herbalism. I draw visual and energetic inspiration from objects / imagery used in Chinese ancestral worship, funeral rituals, divination, lore and both traditional Chinese medicine and Celtic herbalism.
Some things I’ve been thinking about lately:
How are we deepening our relationship to land as both settlers (non-native) + children of migrants?
How can deepening relations with plants + plant medicine help to transcend the violences of assimilation, borders, capitalism, + imperialism to reroot in ancestral knowledge?
If plants have traveled with people in similar migration patterns, what does that tell us about those relationships? How is that beautiful + how is that harmful (intentionally + not) to native populations?
How do we share what we know + are learning from plant relatives + our teachers?
How does making art, storytelling + learning from plants / the land / our ancestors teach us skills to envision a better future?
---------
I recently presented a new installation titled, Return 回, at 500 Capp Street, SF (2025) and have presented solo shows at Dream Farm Commons, Oakland and Cone Shape Top, Oakland (2023). I have been featured in, Moving Clouds at Southern Exposure, SF (2024), Hallowed at CCA PLAySPACE Gallery, SF (2025), Trust the Tides at Kearny Street Workshop, SF (2024), and have presented work at CTRL+SHFT Collective, Oakland (2020), Adobe Books SF (2024), and Moth Belly Gallery SF (2025). I received a BFA from California College of the Arts in 2018. I am currently a finalist for the 2026 SF MoMA SECA Award.
jessicatt888@gmail.com @jesyung