Ming Fay explores the connection between people and the botanical world through the uses and metaphorical meanings of specific plants. He has created an outsized inventory of fruits, seeds, herbs and hybrid objects, as the elements for magical gardens of abundance that he installs. Monkey Pots and Monkey Tree, is based on a nut from trees in the lecythis family (Lecythidaceae) found in the Amazon. These enticing nuts are contained in woody pods. To obtain the fruit, curious primates must first gnaw open the hard shell, and then, in attempting to extract the delicious nut, may get their hands or even their head stuck inside of the pods. Fay is interested in the way the monkey pots and their seeds become "a loaded metaphor for getting caught up in our desires." Though native to South America, trees in this family have been transplanted through colonization to other tropical regions.

For three decades Ming Fay has created sculptures and installations that seek to bridge East and West through forms based in nature. He is working on a public art commission for the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, Philadelphia, PA; and the Deptartment of Transportation & Public Works, Yauco, PR. He has completed commissions for the Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR; the MTA Arts for Transit Delancey/Essex Street Station F Line; and the New York City Percent for Art Program at the Whitehall Ferry Terminal in Manhattan, and PS 7 in Elmhurst, Queens, NY. He has exhibited extensively including solo exhibitions at Ramopo College, Mahway, NJ; Cuchifritos, New York, NY; Montalvo Gallery, Saratoga, CA; and Whitney Museum at Phillip Morris, New York, NY. His work has been featured in many group exhibitions including Material Terrain, Laumier Sculpture Park, St. Louis, MO; Crosscurrents in the Mainstream, Zimmerli Museum, New Brunswick, NJ; Metamorphosis, Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI; and Abundant Invention, at Wave Hill in 2000. He came to the United States to study, earning his BFA from Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO; and MFA from University of California, Santa Barbara, CA.  www.mingfay.com