Exhibit: Malaika Ross, "The Soil Beneath Us"

Malaika Ross, a Caribbean American artist, earned her B.A. with a focus in soil microbiology from Hampshire College. She went on to study painting and drawing at the Rhode Island School of Design, San Francisco Art Institute, and the Marchutz School of Fine Arts. Additionally, she completed intensive coursework in sustainable farming, ecological restoration, and Hawaiian ethnobotany at the University of Hawai’i, Hilo.

The exhibit features Ross's unconventional mixed media drawings and collages exploring ecological concepts based in the rhizosphere. She collages various microscope images of one type of soil microbe, then uses graphite, pencil, and ink to draw the collage and explore the shapes and patterns created as microbes merge, resulting in an abstracted soil landscape.