The DESLISSEA series encompasses the world of native Hawaiian plants and animals, all of which are found nowhere else in the world. The word “Delissea” is a reference to the endemic genus of over 100 bellflower species found across the Hawaiian archipelago, a nod to both the rarity and magnificence of Hawaiian flora. Melissa Chimera’s training and professional experience as a field conservationist in Hawai‘i has brought her in close proximity to many of the species portrayed here. Her use of intricate pattern in the background composition references her Lebanese ancestors’ textile work as immigrants more than a century ago. Chimera’s patterns and stitched silk also reflect a desire to suture, repair or create an alternative habitat in which fragmented species can thrive in our imaginations and by extension the natural world. The work draws connections between the recovery of the rarest flowers, ferns and birds to the possibility of a restored humanity among sometimes larger-than-life environmental devastation.