2019-2020 Artist-in-Residence Lina Puerta creates mixed media sculptures, installations, collages, handmade-paper paintings and wall hangings by combining a wide range of materials, from artificial plants and paper pulp to found, personal and recycled objects. Her work draws from her experience as a Colombian-American artist, examining the relationship between nature and the human-made, and engaging themes of food justice, xenophobia, hyper-consumerism, and ancestral knowledge. Her most recent work centers around Indigenous relationships with the natural world and what they can teach us about alternative ways of living that will not only improve our livelihood, but ensure a sustainable and biodiverse future for generations to come.