Farmlab Zines 01–10
Metabolic Studio / 2026
We’re excited to share a new set of Farmlab zines produced especially for this year’s Printed Matter Art Book Fair.
Emerging from Metabolic Studio’s Farmlab, these publications move through ecological art, watershed repair, soil remediation, floodplains, compost, insects, Indigenous knowledge, clay, flowers, urban infrastructure, and the living systems that persist beneath the city.
• All The Pretty Little Bugs — Michel Bréard
• What the Soil Keeps — Bella Escobar
• Protocols of Repair — Maru García
• Touching The Past: Clay as a Medium of Connection — Alex Tanasi
• Teachings That Took Root — Milli Macen-Moore
• Unseen Un-Development: How Big Is Here? — Diego Zapata
• Compostmortem — Michel Bréard
• Compostpartum — Michel Bréard
• Artists Must Behave Like Rivers — Lauren Bon
• Speed Dating with Flowers on a Cloudy Day — Michel Bréard
I'm excited to share this collection of zines created by the Farmlab team at @metabolicstudio led by @laurenmetropolis .
The zines explore relational inquiries: clay as a medium of connection, Indigenous knowledge guiding land and water healing, and un-development rethinking scale and time.
“Protocols of Repair" documents two soil experiments I've collaborated on over 3 years, approaching remediation as both technical and collaborative practice between humans, soil, plants, microbes, and minerals.
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#metabolicstudio #farmlab
Very honored that my "Boiling Rocks" work and @prosperingbackyards project were included in the Soils Turn book published by @ecoartspace .
This "field guide" highlights the work of over thirty distinguished soil artists, including @laurenmetropolis and the @metabolicstudio , #delcymorelos and @jackieamezquita , soil essays, and a directory of over 140 soil artists.
It is inspiring to see how many artists and scientists are working on assembling, caring, figuring, listening, metabolizing, surfacing, and witnessing soil.
Soil Turn—A Field Guide to Artistic Earthly Engagements was edited by Alexandra R. Toland and Patricia L. Watts and published by ecoartspace with support from Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
#soilsturn #boilingrocks #prosperingbackyards #soiltime! #tiempodelatierra #tierra
Emerging Horizons (2026)
Site-specific installation at Descanso Gardens
Dimensions variable
Carbon cylinders, soil, plant materials, and zeolites.
Emerging Horizons is a site-specific installation that investigates the landscape-forming properties of soil compression. Over two days in March, I worked with workshop participants to build towers using soil and plant material sourced from Descanso Gardens.
This work is part of “Natura Naturata: Nature’s Action" at @descansogardens Curated by @claudia_pretelin and @julietapestarino , the exhibit features the work of eight female artists who explore their bond with the natural world through photography and video.
Exhibiting artists include Luciana Abait @lucianaabait , Laura Aguilar @laura_aguilar_photo , Jackie Castillo @caminadas , Graciela Iturbide @gracielaiturbide , Carolina Montejo @caro_montejo_art , Tricia Rainwater @triciarainwaterart , and Rosana Schoijett @rosana_schoijett
This exhibition runs until May 31, 10am-4pm daily at the Sturt Haaga Gallery.
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Photos by @grahamcsmith and @descansogardens
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#marugarcia #emerginghorizons #soilhealing #tierra
Boiling Rocks 1
Soil pellets mosaics, 30 x 30 in.
Boiling Rocks 1 is a series of mosaics crafted from 2500 soil pellets each, using lead-contaminated soil collected by community scientists in the @prosperingbackyards project. These works represent research carried out to discover how zeolites reduce lead levels in the soil. The inspiration for this piece comes from the lead analysis method developed at the NHMLA laboratory, in which soil samples were pulverized and compressed into pellets for use in an X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) Spectrometer.
Boiling Rocks 1: Healing Touch (2024)
Boiling Rocks 1: Microscopic Embrace (2024)
Boiling Rocks 1: Fluid Regeneration (2025)
This work is part of “Natura Naturata: Nature’s Action" at @descansogardens Curated by @claudia_pretelin and @julietapestarino , the exhibit features the work of eight female artists who explore their bond with the natural world through photography and video.
Exhibiting artists include Luciana Abait @lucianaabait , Laura Aguilar @laura_aguilar_photo , Jackie Castillo @caminadas , Graciela Iturbide @gracielaiturbide , Carolina Montejo @caro_montejo_art , Tricia Rainwater @triciarainwaterart , and Rosana Schoijett @rosana_schoijett
This exhibition runs until May 31, 10am-4pm daily at the Sturt Haaga Gallery.
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#boilingrocks #soilhealing #soilremediation #soilmosaics #marugarcia
Photos by @grahamcsmith
Across southern California, makers and scholars are engaging in profound acts of reassembly, using textiles not merely as objects but as primary sites for the reclamation of memory and identity. No longer passive carriers of pattern or tradition, these materials are active vessels deliberately gathered, worked, and imbued to mend fragmentation and build more just futures.
🌐Join us in-person or online as we hear from renowned contemporary artists, scholars, and cultural practitioners in a critical exchange on fiber and material culture.
Learn more via link in bio or at https://bit.ly/spring-2026-colloquium
Presenters include: Fafnir Adamites @fafniradamites Maria Maea @maeamaria Yasmin Mora @umaguma___ Maru García @marugfe Katrina Bruins @visionsmuseum Sobeidy Vidal @latinfashionweek
Colloquium is made possible in part from support from the Teitelbaum Family Fund and Latin American Fund.
This past January I stood in front of a glacier for the first time and felt something I can only describe as sublime. The silence, the deep blue ice, the slow sound of the glacier breathing and breaking somewhere in the distance… it felt ancient, alive, and impossibly powerful. I remember just standing there, trying to understand the scale of it, and at the same time feeling very small and very grateful. ❄️
Today was World Glacier Day, and I can’t stop thinking about that moment. Glaciers are not just landscapes — they are water, time, and life. Seeing one so close made the climate crisis feel real in a completely different way. These places need care, attention, and protection more than ever. 🌎💧
#WorldGlacierDay #ClimateCrisis #ProtectGlaciers
Maru García @marugfe is a Mexican, LA-based artist/chemist working across art + science + environment.
Operating at the intersection of art, science, and the environment, Maru Garcia bridges the gap between empirical research and creative expression. As both an artist and a chemist, her practice is rooted in regenerative art, moving beyond observation to actively engage in restoring the natural world. Her work centers on "seeing the unseen," or the art of the imperceptible, where she translates complex chemical and biological processes into tangible experiences. By focusing on microbes, plants, and minerals, she studies the interactions between the organic and inorganic to reveal the hidden pulse of our ecosystems.
🌟🗣️ Maru is a panelist at our Colloquium on April 16. Learn more at the link in our bio or visit bit.ly/spring-2026-colloquium
Colloquium is made possible in part by support from the Teitelbaum Family Fund and Latin American Fund.
Image: Maru García. Untitled. Sculpture Made of SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast). 2021. Image courtesy of the artist.
Thanks to everyone who helped bring Emerging Horizons to life as part of Natura Naturata exhibition at @descansogardens . Seeing so many hands working with soil and getting muddy was truly inspiring :)
More pictures of the final results soon.
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#emerginghorizons #naturanaturata #soilart
I’ll be working with soil, mulch, and plant material from Descanso Gardens to create a new installation, Emerging Horizons, for the Natura Naturata exhibition. I’ll give a soil health workshop this Saturday (currently full) but you can still come catch me in action throughout the day. 🤎
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Don’t miss Natura Naturata, the newest exhibition at Descanso Gardens. Natura Naturata: Nature’s Action features the work of eight female artists who explore their bond with the natural world through contemporary photography and video.
This diverse body of work delves into themes related to our connection with the environment, as well as complex examinations of human impact on nature.
This exhibition runs from January 24-May 31, 10am-4pm daily at the Sturt Haaga Gallery. Entry to the exhibition is included in the price of admission or membership.
Natura Naturata and its programs are generously supported, in part, by Perenchio Foundation.
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Photo credit (1-4): @sydneyhanish
More of the process of the third “Boiling Rocks 1” mosaic: aligning 2500 pellets!
This work is part of a series of mosaics made from compressed pellets of contaminated soil collected by community scientists from their own yards during the @prosperingbackyards research.
#soilhealing #boilingrocks #soilremediation #prosperingbackyards #soilmosaic
