Genie Botanica means paradise planet.
Genie Botanica is a craft studio and native market preserving ancestral art and plant wisdom in the African diaspora. Based in Florida, we provide handcrafted artisanal goods, herbal medicine and books.
On native Timucua and Apalachee land,
our mission is to encourage holistic connection with the natural world through collaborative projects and environmental education rooted in ancient knowledge systems. Genie Botanica is a home for sustainable artistic practice and health wisdom on the foundation of indigenous spirituality, science and imagination.
We merge the worlds of art and ecology,
strive to strengthen Earth consciousness, and expand the lens of Black identity through the revitalization of nature-based crafts from the African diaspora and indigenous communities across the globe.
Every tree, animal and stone is uniquely intelligent and divinely interconnected. According to the eternal wisdom of Ancient Africa that gave birth to modern civilization, the cure for every illness exists in nature. Following the path of our ancestors who came before us is the key to restoring our sacred creative energy and the power to heal ourselves.
Founder and Creative Director
Alexis Akua, named in the Akan lineage from Ghana, is a visual artist, writer and herbalist with Caribbean and West African roots. Her art practice in painting, fiber and collage engages intuitive research using natural pigments, botanical dyes and assemblage with found objects.
Born into a lineage of farmers in the southeastern United States, she finds magic in creating holistic experiences rooted in wellness and creativity. As a lifelong student of indigenous spiritual traditions, she seeks to uncover the mythical dimension of the natural world.
She studied Fine Art at Parsons School of Design and Painting at Maryland Institute College of Art. In 2022, she was an environmental artist and writer in residence at Fernland Studios. In 2024, she served as the Creative Director at Promise Land Urban Farm.
She is certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid, as an environmental art educator trained in providing a safe space for young children and teens to explore nature in its abundant manifestations. She is the founder of Genie Botanica and runs her independent practice Akua Studio. Her artwork has been included in solo and group exhibitions in Florida, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Toronto, and London.
The concept was first planted in the summer of 2020.
During lockdown, social uprisings and supply shortages led to a global health crisis and an increased emphasis on self sufficiency. It became clear that an innovative approach to history, art, education, food and land access were necessary to restore fundamental aspects of society that had been permanently changed.
After studying painting in Baltimore and New York, Alexis began exhibiting her artwork in galleries locally and internationally. She wondered why the realm of contemporary art seemed separate from environmentalism despite their intrinsic interdependence. With many family members battling chronic illness, she conducted research on alternative healing methods and nature-based art practices to discover how she could help.
While completing an herbal apprenticeship, she was introduced to indigenous cosmology and became involved in urban agriculture at community gardens. She learned how to align her life with natural cycles and grow plants for holistic applications in food, art and medicine. This sparked a spiritual awakening that guided her along the path of reclaiming her ancestral heritage.
Inspired by her Caribbean and West African roots, she returned to her coastal homeland in Florida. She merged her interests in painting, farming and storytelling into a unified space designed for enlightenment, transformation and creative collaboration.
Genie Botanica is an homage to her ancestors who crafted with their hands and cultivated land for many generations. She's inspired by her grandmother and great aunts who were quilters and seamstresses, her great-grandfather who grew corn and sold sugarcane, her great-grandmother who cooked farm-to-table meals, her cousins who raise cows and peanut crops, and her mother who made drawings and ceramics.
CONTACT
2020 West Pensacola Street, #20506
Tallahassee, Florida 32304