My name is Alexis Audette, I graduated from the RISD Textiles MFA program in 2003, and I design Mazy Path, a line of botanical fabrics and wallpapers based on my own handmade linocut prints. I also make linocuts as works of art. I create my prints by hand using water-based inks and Japanese mulberry paper at my home studio in New York City. The subtle variations that result from hand printing make each print one of a kind. Like my wallpapers, my prints explore plants and their stories through the lenses of environmental journalism and art history. Trees that mine for heavy metals, mushrooms that create forest communication networks, grasses that fortify soil to increase grain yields: these are some of the botanical wonders that inspire my work. To capture the dynamism of these motifs, I look to early Modernists, such as Arthur Wesley Dow and Josef Frank, for ideas around composition and color. My goal is to create captivating botanical images that are conversation starters; I believe that thinking and talking about plants is the first step toward improving our relationship with the natural world. Years ago, I lingered over rare botanical art books in the RISD library, sketched plants in the RISD Nature Lab, and honed my linocut printmaking skills in the College Building textile studios. I remain enchanted by plants and linocuts and welcome the opportunity to share how these passions have evolved in the form of botanical linocut prints at RISD Craft: Spring 2024.