Story:
My grandma, my mom, and I are all born under the year of the Rabbit. We do not have Chinese ancestry, but my mom always loved learning about the Chinese zodiac and found it fitting that us three women fall under the same sign. Like grandmother, mother, and daughter, we have an unbreakable bond that continues after my grandmother's passing last year.

While going through some of my grandmother's old pictures preparing her obituary, I found an old leather wallet protecting four photos, only one of which I could recognize. A flurry of other family stared up from the other photos, none of whom looked familiar to me. I asked my mom, my grandpa, even my grandma's last living uncle, and they could not recognize anyone in the photos either.

How much these people must have meant to my grandmother, that she brought this crumbling leather wallet with her from South Carolina when she moved up to New York in the 1940s, and now we cannot even recognize them. I felt ashamed. I hope to identify these faces someday, but for now, I can dive deeper into what I do know.

I was named after my Great-Great-Grandmother, Lorena Roundtree. The one picture I’ve seen of her shows my namesake with pressed hair, swollen hands, and a melancholy look on her face. Lorena was my grandma’s grandma, and the daughter inlaw of Patience Crawford, a women her worked her life at the Redcliffe Plantation.

Each collage features two photographs — one of these matriarchs and one of an unknown group of individuals from the old wallet. These pieces not only integrate old photographs, but also a mosaic of painted cardboard squares, invasive Privet branches, and handmade paper crafted from invasive plants such as Privet and Heavenly Bamboo.

Beyond personal history, my work challenges conventional narratives around invasive species. As the founder of Invasive Impact Initiatives and a collaborator with the North American Invasive Species Management Association, I am dedicated to reshaping the way we view invasive plants. Rather than solely seeing them as threats, I explore their cultural significance in their native regions and their potential for sustainable reuse.

I honor nature and my ancestors through this art.

Submitted by: Lorena James

Connect: @ecolorena, @invasiveimpact