Honoring sacred relationships with the native nature of her homeland,
Justina Freel (b. 1975, Pasadena, CA) is an ecofeminist watercolor painter, relief printmaker, and hand-cut paper silhouettist,
who composes idyllic botanical arrangements and whimsical scenes of ephemeral moments in nature
to heal the trauma of fragmented ecosystems.

Actively preserving matrilineal craft traditions, Justina collects heirloom embroidered textiles and uses a custom Conrad etching press to produce blind relief monoprints that record the story of every thread. Consciously committed to using natural materials and processes that are non-toxic for herself and the environment, she avoids synthetic pigments and petroleum chemicals by reviving historic printmaking processes of hand mulling earth mineral pigments into a natural printing press ink to make relief press prints with an vintage Vandercook printing press.

Justina has earned a B.A. from The Evergreen State College in Ethnobotany and Floriculture, as well as a B.F.A. from Art Center College of Design in Illustration. Her works have been exhibited at the Pritzlaff Conservation Center Gallery at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, the California Botanic Garden, and the Sturt Haaga Gallery at Descanso Gardens.