Trauma + Curiosity with Tyler Thrasher

Tyler Thrasher (he/him) is an artist, scientist, and plant lover. With an undying love for nature and its respective curiosities, there are few things his brain isn’t obsessing over. Between his pursuits to crystallize the world, opalize everything, and hunt down some of the realm’s most unique plants, his passion to combine art and science every step of the way is his fire and fuel. Chances are, if you catch Tyler at a party, he’ll talk your ear off about exploring caves, growing minerals in his lab, playing Dungeons and Dragons, hybridizing new plants, electronic music, grappling with and overcoming trauma, and just how amazingly beautiful and mysterious this whole wide universe is. When he's not spending time crystallizing insects, you can find him in the greenhouse hybridizing plants, cultivating mutations, or screaming into the existential void.

But behind all of his online plant rants, dressing up like monster, and pretending to be a fern on social media, Tyler Thrasher has been through more than his fair share of pain. After a childhood of abuse and the sudden and shocking fire that destroyed Tyler and his wife Molly’s home a few years ago, you’d think Tyler might have given up on the inherent goodness of existence. But a wild outpouring of generosity that helped his family survive tragedy turned his perspective completely around.

In this episode, Tyler and Brandi talk about the intersections of Trauma + Curiosity, including:

• How art and curiosity and sleeping in a greenhouse as a child was whimsical, but more often served as an escape from trauma Tyler was facing at home.
• How going through trauma doesn’t mean you’ll never heal.
• How Tyler sees his work as a dance back and forth with the universe—which is really just himself—where he gives a little and then the universe gives a little.
• How systems teach us racism and all of the micro aggressions that feed into Tyler’s desire to give and support Black causes. 
• Not needing a degree to do science or call yourself a scientist.
• Social anxiety, mental health, and how to cope.
• Jealousy and scarcity in the art world.
• Being exactly who you are and taking up space because there will always be people who hate what you do.
  
  

Listeners can find Tyler Thrasher at his website, https://tylerthrasher.com/ and on Instagram @tylerthrasherart.

Get more This Plus That:
Sign up for the newsletter and get MORE Tyler—a bonus 13-minute chat Tyler and Brandi had on the intersections of Plants + Capitalism.
Check out this episode's show notes.
Follow along on Twitter: @thisplusthatpod
Follow along on Instagram: @thisplusthatpod
Check out the Website: thisplusthat.com

Music: The in-house musicians at Slip.stream
Audio Engineering: The team at Upfire Digital