In Search of Thoreau's Flowers -
An Exploration of Change and Loss
Leah Sobsey, Emily Meineke, Robin Vuchnich, Chuck Davis, and I collaborated on a mutli-media installation using Henry David Thoreau’s digitized plant specimens from Harvard University’s Herbaria. Thoreau’s collection is a botanical time machine that exists in combination with the naturalist’s extensive notes about when and where his specimens were collected, which our installation draws from to provide insight into environmental change featuring original specimens, cyanotpyes, data visualization, soundscapes, and projected augmented reality.
"In Search of Thoreau's Flowers" was on display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History from May 2022 to May 2024. An updated version of the show was mounted at the Gregg Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC from September 2025-January 2026 with a new immersive, interactive installation and several new works of art. Another iteration opened at the Frist Museum of Art in Nashville, TN featuring Robin Vuchnich's immersive installation and a pressed plant collage, "Preserve // Persevere," that we created for the Gregg Museum of Art.
Footage and still (above and below right) of Robin Vuchnich's animations from opening night, May 2022. Leah Sobesy's gold leaf cyanotype on glass (bottom left).
