Miranda Mote

Artist Statement

—graphy.
I am unapologetically a contradiction, a humanist guided by love and belief. I would describe myself as a humanist in the sense that I rely on methodology, a rational process and investigation of historical subjects and philosophies of science (botany). I value and prioritize love in the sense of bell hooks’ all about love, new visions and Art on My Mind, visual politics. hooks’ writing transformed my confidence in literacy, art and the value of plants in the day to day lives of children. Regarding belief, the metaphysical is a foundation of my art—the obscure and divine lives of plants are my poetry. They are why I dissect and print plants, paint their shapes and forms with botanical pigments, watercolor, encaustic, and oils, and illuminate them with gold, copper, and silver leaf.

I founded Botanography in 2022 as a non-profit art and education practice, dedicated to art, gardens, and the development of environmental literacy of children in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Its mission serves children through its pedagogy, programming, and advocacy for environmental justice in K-12 education. About every two years I plan and make a series of botanical prints that tells a story of and about plants and their relationship to particular places. This May, I will be making paper at Paper Think Tank with flax, embedding the paper with watermarks of plants and flowers native to the Pennsylvania region. The botanical watermarks of the flax paper will be prints that are the basis of illumination with paint and gold leaf. As an educator, seasonally, in partnership with Historic Fair Hill, I work directly with young children in North Philadelphia and lead educational workshops about plant biology and ecology, literacy, and making art with and about plants. I also work directly with children at community gardens and a high school in Grays Ferry. In 2026, I will also be leading programs at the Free Library of Philadelphia (central branch) and Cecil B. Moore branch library of the Free Library system.

Botanography is my art and education practice. Exhibiting and selling my art directly funds my education and outreach programs.