• A bookmark on top of an open book. It has tans and browns radiating out from a central point. It's on top of another bookmark that shows the Art Is Craft Is Design logo and has text that says: AIsCIsC.com Chromatogram made in 2023 using white tea from Hoisan.
  • A bookmark on top of an open book. It shows bursts of red radiating out from five dark lines running across the length of the paper. The top of another bookmark is sticking out of the book and shows the Art Is Craft Is Design logo.
  • A bookmark on top of an open journal with a pencil and next to a cup of tea and a gaiwan. The bookmark has brown and light red uneven and wide lines running along its length with three sets of white splotches interrupting the darker lines. Sticking out of the journal is the top of a bookmark showing the Art is Craft is Design logo.
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Chromatogram Bookmarks

Chromatogram Bookmarks

$2.00 USD
$2.00 USD
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Chromatogram

Soil chromatography is like taking a photo of the compounds and bacteria that make up soil and plants.


This listing is for digitally printed bookmarks of chromatograms I made for my body of work titled The Land Loves Us. You will receive a 2" x 6" bookmark. Note that while I have uploaded photos that match the prints' colors as closely as I can, colors may vary among different computer monitors. What appears on your monitor may not reflect the exact shades of color in the print.


White Tea from Hoisan 台山

Hoisan, also called Toisan and Taishan, is my ancestral family home. I made the original chromatogram this print is based on using tea grown in Hoisan. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, white tea is seen as calming, reflective of this print's soothing tans and warm browns.

Pears from my cousin's garden

In 2023, my cousin Sik Fi gave me pears he grew in his garden in Chicago's Chinatown. I made the original chromatogram using one of his pears that had over-ripened. The deep browns and blacks of the print are like the earth calling the fruit home to compost.

Aged Puer from Yunnan 云南

Puer is a tea that develops more of an earthy taste as it ages. This chromatogram was made with 17 year aged tea from Yunnan, and its colors reflect the journey that puer takes as it ferments, from bright and clear astringent whites to gently spirited reddish tans, and earthy browns and blacks.

What is Soil Chromatography?

Soil chromatography is often used by farmers to qualitatively assess soil health. I’ve spent the past two and a half years widening the creative possibilities of this lesser known soil science test.

I use soil chromatography to extract the normally invisible compounds and bacteria in plants and soil, then illuminate them using silver nitrate, a classic photography chemical. Each color and striation signifies a separate compound or bacteria present in the tea, fruit, or plant I used to make the chromatograms (one-of-a-kind prints made using chromatography).

Giving Back

My work with chromatography is intrinsically related to the land, and some of my chromatograms are made using food and plants grown on stolen land. Indigenous communities are the land's strongest defenders, so 10% of each chromatogram sale gets donated to Indigenous communities. 

Free Postcard

Every purchase of a physical item receives a free postcard. One per order. The current postcards include a picture of one of my favorite chromatograms, Chinese Chive Roots and Stems, that I grew in my community garden plot in Chicago.

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