For the exhibition ENGINEERING EDEN at Allegheny College, artist Jessica Longobardo compiled three handmade booklets for three of her friends, each of whom comes from a distinct bioregion in the United States. Each booklet includes a map illustrating the distribution of tree species in a specific region and drawings of those trees’ leaves.
Longobardo then tattooed each of her friends with the leaves representing the trees native to each person’s home region. For the exhibition, Longobardo photographed the tattoos and displayed the photos along with the booklets.
As the exhibition’s closing event, Longobardo set up a temporary tattoo parlor in the Porta Hedge (which is technically native to no region, but available to any region with roads) on the Allegheny College campus and invited passersby to find out what trees grow in their hometown, and then to select one of those trees as a basis for a leaf tattoo.
