Dornith Doherty

These artworks have as their origin a collection of mid-twentieth century scientific microscope slides of plants, rescued from a retired scientist's garage and now preserved in the Botanical Research Institute of Texas archive. I've combined these slides with herbarium specimens spanning different time periods and parts of the world, creating layered palimpsests that collapse temporal boundaries and evoke the tension between preservation and erasure.

At their core, these works on paper reflect my deep environmental concerns and express my appreciation for the inherent beauty and wonder of botanical life. They explore the rich intersection where scientific documentation meets artistic interpretation, creating works that I hope resist simplified categorization or singular interpretations.