alease: (n.) a southern scientist bleeding saltwater + sap, honoring sound + sun, carrying softness + story

littoralis: (adj.) the scientific name for plants that grow near the seashore or coastline

artistically, alease “aloe” lee, the Gullah Geechee creative behind littoralis, is a biodisciplinary artist, archivist and intimacy doula born on Kecoughtan land (Hampton, Virginia) and raised on Muscogee, Creek, and Cherokee land (Atlanta, Georgia). growing up in a military family led to frequent uprooting and reestablishing Homes throughout the united states, with returns to Muscogee grounds over and over, as a constant reunion. her bloodline is tied to the fertile soil of the Tuscarora, Cherokee, and Lumbee people in present day North Carolina through paternal navigation. aloe embraces her innate understanding of water’s power as a source of communion with God, a homecoming of Self, and a call to discover the origin.

her art practice primarily focuses on recreating and reimagining Indigenous and West African lifestyles and preparations in ways that honor tradition while welcoming modernism and new mediums of archiving that further the story of the Coastal Black Southerner’s connection to land and water.

using sound, story, chroma, and flora, aloe invites expansion into her art space and encourages the questioning of nature-based purpose while guiding you back Home to find the answers in the Ancestry.

scientifically, aloe is a sustainability consultant and plant biologist with specialties in ecological horticulture, arboriculture, and ethnobotany. her work focuses on cultivating subtropical landscapes, southeastern native habitat restoration, and effective plant collection and documentation methods during climate change.