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BIO
Lilli Kayes is an artist, educator and naturalist from St. Louis, Missouri. She earned an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and Media from Columbia College in Chicago. She currently teaches at Maryville University in St. Louis. Her work is a fusion of her love of the natural world and her passion for education. Ecological issues and histories of the natural world drive the focus of her work. Her passion stems from learning traditions from people with deep connections to water. She grew up swimming with cow nose rays, diving for mollusks, setting crab traps and fishing. Her goal is to create art that ignites curiosity of the natural world, promotes STEM education and inspires environmental stewardship.

blue whales can live 80 - 90 years
ARTIST
STATEMENT
at 23km, the Aletsch Glacier is the longest in the European Alps
Ecological issues pertaining to systems of water and histories of the natural world drive the focus of my work. I take a lyrical approach to the presentation of data amassed from research and fieldwork. I fuse nature and technology through the use of water, field collections, found objects, 3D software, and visual programming to create sculptures, installations, photographs and films. My line of inquiry questions our complicated relationship with nature by teasing out the real connections and impacts we have on bodies of nature, and vice versa. It explores the gray area between conservation efforts motivated by our needs and those motivated by the needs of nature.
over 1 million marine animals die each year due to plastic debris in the ocean
C
V
their hearts are about 5 feet in length, 4 feet in width, 5 feet tall and can weigh up to 400lbs
SKILLS

COMPREHENSIVE DESIGN
SOFTWARE EDUCATION
EXHIBITION DESIGN
VIDEOGRAPHY
3D MODELING
DIGITAL ART

global bee-decline is linked to industrial agriculture, parasites/pathogens and climate change
monoculture and pesticides threaten honeybees and wild pollinators.
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