Traces of Life: From eDNA to Visual Art is a collaboration with Prof. Ip Chi Ho, Assistant Professor in the Science Unit at Lingnan University. A molecular ecologist, Prof. Ip’s research explores molluscan and coral genomics, as well as environmental DNA (eDNA) as a means of assessing marine biodiversity and sustainable aquaculture.
The project began with a conversation about compassion. Prof. Ip shared that he moved towards eDNA research after questioning traditional specimen-collecting methods: the more scientists sought to learn about a living being, the more individuals could be harmed or killed in the process. eDNA offered another possibility, to encounter and study life through the traces it leaves behind, without needing to capture it.
Developed in dialogue with this approach, the work considers how life can be sensed without direct extraction or possession. Through pinhole photography, found materials, field-note-like assemblages and fragments of scientific data, I explore eDNA not only as a method of detection, but also as a way of thinking about care, attention and our relationship with the more-than-human world. The project moves between scientific observation and artistic speculation, making space for what remains unseen yet present.