Ginkgo Bioworks

Ginkgo Bioworks was looking for a unique experience for their exhibit at the World Perfumery Congress. Ginkgo creative director and bio-visionary Christina Agapakis wanted a pop-up art show that would feature speculative artworks and new products made possible through cultured yeast. She commissioned a series of five patterns from me, a "cornucopia" pattern featuring several cultured ingredients, and a single pattern for peach, orange, vanilla and rose.

Peach, orange, vanilla, rose… the words conjure up pleasurable visceral associations, whether one is referencing plant life, a color, a smell, or a taste. Humans have cultivated these plants for millennia. The newest era of human cultivation is brewing the essence of these plants through micro machinery, like that of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast. We can harvest a smell, taste, or even color via microbial production. “Aromatic Patterns” celebrates these innovations with patterns constructed with the inspiring plant life, and the microbe that produces the “fruit” of the essence. Slight variations in color adopted from a single palette, unfinished edges, and hand made elements infer nature’s variations and human handiwork.