Specimens

Phalaenopsis amabilis, Orchid 

flower, stem, bud, leaf, root

February 2024

Brooklyn, New York

Tulipa gesneriana, Tulip 

flower, stem

February 2024

Brooklyn, New York

Cornus sanguinea, Dogwood

flower

June 2025

Brooklyn, New York

Juniperus virginiana, Eastern Red Cedar

leaf

June 2025

Brooklyn, New York

Gorgonia ventalina, Common Sea Fan Coral

skeletal axis

June 2025

Hybrid No. 004.0 is a sculptural composition made from casts of botanical and marine specimens collected across multiple geographies and seasons, including Wassaic, New York; Brooklyn, New York; and Tulum, Mexico. Preserved in resin and mounted on hand-blown glass stalks, the specimens are arranged within a glass vessel, forming a delicate hybrid bouquet that merges elements from different ecosystems.

The work brings together fragments of flowers, leaves, seeds, and coral gathered over several years. Suspended between preservation and display, these forms evoke both botanical specimen and sculptural object, creating a quiet archive of ecological encounters across time and place.

Several of the specimens used in this work were collected during Gloria Fan Duan’s residency at An And Foundation in Wassaic, New York. The surrounding landscape - its fields, forests, and seasonal cycles—became part of the material and conceptual foundation of the piece. By incorporating these elements alongside specimens gathered elsewhere, the work reflects on the movement of natural matter across environments and the subtle connections between distant ecologies.

Hybrid No. 004.0 thus becomes both a bouquet and a record: a hybrid landscape assembled from dispersed environments, shaped in part by the artist’s time at An And Foundation.

Production of the work was supported by residency and in-kind contributions from Fou Residency (Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico) and An And Foundation (Upstate New York).