In the Banyan Tree project, I investigate the historical entanglement of botanical classification, colonial landscape design/reforestation, and the "native versus alien" discourse through the lens of introduced apex flora. Focusing on Indian and Chinese banyan trees (Ficus benghalensis and Ficus microcarpa) introduced to the Hawaiian archipelago over the past two centuries, this research traces how scientific ideas of biotic nativeness—originally derived from Victorian legal language regarding citizenship—were weaponized to police ecological and national borders. By analyzing archival government and museum records, I examine how the sprawling visual and spatial presence of these trees became deeply intertwined with both settler colonial expansion and the management of regional landscapes.

This illustration features a photograph I took of a Chinese banyan tree at the George V Memorial Park in Sai Ying Pun during a 2024 fieldwork visit to Hong Kong. My interest in this species originates from its prominent appearance in 19th-century colonial archival photography, where these trees were documented lining newly constructed streets to provide shade for colonial activities. As captured here, the banyan's aggressive aerial roots have nearly overtaken the royal commemorative medallion, demonstrating the vital force these trees possess in tangling the history of empire across continents."