Cynthia Fan was born in Durban in 1991 and grew up on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal. She is an artist and researcher with a background in plant science and floristry.

She holds a PhD in plant molecular biology from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, and is one half of Pear_ed collective which spends time with plants between Cape Town, London and Amsterdam.

As a contributing writer for The Plant and a former artist-in-residence at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York City, her work reflects an ongoing relationship with the plants around her. She has collaborated with brands and institutions as various as TOAST, Wright + Doyle, The Photographers’ Gallery, and the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP). Her plant sculptures have been exhibited internationally.

She lives in London.