A Different Kind of Companion

In a garden, certain types of plants thrive when planted together. These “companion plantings” help each other in different ways, each attracting the right insects and depositing the right nutrients to help the other. During grad school, I always made a point to visit my grandmother on the drive out to Michigan, and was struck by the loneliness of growing old. Companion planting is a concept that I came up with to bring sculptural, living beings into different spaces to make people smile and help their inhabitants thrive.

Wandering in search of the light

Companion Planting is equipped with photo sensors and a small but mighty motor to help it meander toward patches of sunlight. The birch plywood is cut into a topographical map of Deer Isle, Maine, a place that is near and dear to my heart.