Connie Zheng

Routes/Roots traces the ways in which major food plants — from peppers to watermelons to coffee — have traversed the world over the past several millennia, along with the human activities that have enabled or necessitated their movement. This map attempts to record the manifold ways in which colonialism, slavery and capitalistic enterprise have shaped not only what foods we eat and consider ‘native’ to a place, but also how seeds and their fruits can make hostile new landscapes feel like home — or transform fertile soil into unrecognizable fields for industry. When we consider the brutal histories behind many of our favorite foods, what is the true cost of a bag of sugar or a sack of oranges? – Connie Zheng

Connie Zheng is a Chinese-born artist, writer and experimental filmmaker based out of Oakland, California. She works with maps, seeds, food, environmental histories, speculative fiction, field recordings and hand-drawn animation. Her projects have been exhibited and screened internationally, and her work is held in the collections of the Kadist Foundation and the David Rumsey Map Center at Stanford University. She has received fellowships and awards from the Headlands Center for the Arts, the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, and the Puffin Foundation, among other organizations, and was a 2023 YBCA 100 awardee. Zheng graduated with BA degrees in Economics and English from Brown University and an MFA in Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently a PhD student in Visual Studies at the University of California Santa Cruz.

Connie Zheng, Routes/Roots, 2021, Mixed media on cyanotype and silkscreen print, 10 x 5 feet,  Courtesy of the artist and David Rumsey, The David Rumsey Historical Map Center, Stanford University