Artist Statement

I am an artist, design researcher, and strategist who communicates and collaborates with other-than-human beings. I create experiences where you can experiment with doing the same.

My artistic practice is a series of experiments in which I ask for help and guidance—with no control over what comes. I have developed ongoing relationships with trees, plants, elements, and other forms of life. My studio photographs document the inexplicable—even bizarre—moments of inspiration, instruction, and collaboration. Outside the studio, I build participatory installations that create conditions for groups to explore what becomes possible when we reach out to the other-than-human world together.

Taken together, these experiments are the first small steps toward something larger. My background is in design and strategy, and I envision a future in which we are able to listen and collaborate with other-than-human beings. We humans are just .01% of the planetary biomass. What could our world be like if we were in true, practical collaboration with the other 99.99%? What would carbon sequestration look like if we asked carbon and the plant world for strategic advice? How would water conservation change if water were the architect of the efforts?

I have no idea where my experiments might lead. I only know that I am driven to discover what practical solutions become possible when we stop imagining that we are in charge.

Bio

Lydia Idel is an interdisciplinary artist, design researcher, and strategist who communicates and collaborates with other-than-human beings. Through photography, participatory installations, and long-term artistic experiments, her work explores what becomes possible when humans approach trees, plants, and other forms of life as teachers, collaborators, and sources of practical guidance.

Her recent activities include The Classroom of Natural Intelligence at Williams College (April - October, 2026), presenting at Tending the Garden: Contemporary Nature Symposium at MASS MoCA (2026), participating as an artist in the Assets for Artists Artist Development Cohort (2026), artist residencies at Maison Les Buis, France (2024) and the Pouch Cove Foundation, Newfoundland and Labrador (2023), and publication of her essay, “Elegy for the Passing of a Paramecium,” in The Perilous Texas Adventures of Mark Dion (Yale University Press, 2020), (published under the name Chuck Hildebrand).

Idel received a B.A. with a concentration in Studio Art from Williams College. Prior to focusing on her current artistic practice, she worked as a senior design researcher and strategist, bringing methods of inquiry, observation, and experimentation into her work as an artist. Ever impelled to bridge worlds, she once owned and operated what might be the first and only native Texas plant nursery + biker bar + music venue.

Contact

greetings at lydiaidel dot com