Mary Sand is an interdisciplinary artist and botanical specialist from the Sacramento Delta. She works under the belief that design is a powerful tool that influences the way we use resources, and how we respond to environmental challenges. She founded the Red Barn Collective in 2023, where her studio and store is located and currently open every Saturday and Sunday from 10am-4pm and weekdays by appointment at 8521 Folsom Blvd, Sacramento, California.
Mary earned a B.S. in environmental studies with an emphasis on invasive plant management from CSUS Sacramento. She has worked with The Nature Conservancy growing and propagating native plants for habitat restoration projects in the Sacramento Delta. She also uses plants to design large scale art installations and sculptures, exploring unconventional and resourceful collection techniques.
The origin of Seed Bank Bugs
The idea of working on a micro scale to make bugs developed through observation of the cross-phyla patterns in plant and insect morphologies, such as wings and things...
Equisetum is considered a "living Fossil", reproducing by spores rather than seeds. The stems of equisetum contain high concentrations of silica and were once used to scour and clean various surfaces. It is referred to as "Puzzle Grass" because if the segments are popped out of on another, they can fit neatly back into place, being held together by tension.
"As a kid, I would stand on the side of the levee, and wait for the school bus to pick me up, between the road and the river - where there grew puzzle grass, and each morning I would pass the time by pulling apart the stem segments and fitting them back together again. Fidgeting with plants has been my stim for as long as I can remember."