Darwin’s Tree of Life, 2010

“We are all connected;
To each other, biologically
To the earth, chemically
To the rest of the universe atomically”

~ Neil deGrasse Tyson, an Astrophysicist


Darwin’s observation of evolution and natural selection changed the way that scientists viewed the world. In fact, an American biologist, Theodosius Dobzhansky, once claimed that “nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution”.

I have since been captivated with life’s interconnectedness— captivated with the thought that we are made up of the same elements that make up the stars, the thought that we share ancestors with insects and redwood trees.


Through my memorial, I wish to depict my own captivation with Darwin’s ingenious, as well as display the influence that his observations have had on science. He has given us a new way to think about life around us—that we, indeed, are related to every single organism on this Planet.


My sculpture draws on the essence of this interrelatedness through my depiction of a tree-like structure (a phylogenetic tree). The modules of paper and saran wrap are all essentially the same, with the exception to the randomly placed black dots on ink on the paper. Like every biological organism on this planet, we have all evolved from the same source. However, it is these imperfections that make us unique, and have allowed us to thrive in environments that other organisms may not survive in.


Hence, Darwin’s Tree of Life.