Through representation, I am interested in revealing the rarely seen natural world. Fascination with the exquisite things unnoticed, the concealed and fecund in nature, inspires detailed compositions of small flora and fauna entangled. Opposing forces of revulsion and attraction, growth and decay, are conveyed through complex, intimate arrangements.
Restoring the Wild is a series rooted in research and observation of native plants and the ecosystems they engender. It shows the struggle and relationships between animals and plants in a hectic, brutal, yet essential world, not only for them but for us.
Other works focus on both marine and terrestrial worlds. The Marine Garden series is developed from sketches of marine samples collected from beneath docks, seen through a microscope. From there, they evolved into scenes depicting true and exaggerated forms. These compositions are meant to inspire the imagination to the possibilities of diversity and abundance under the ocean’s surface. The Nature Studies series is rooted in my own garden and woods and shows relationships between animals and plants and the competition for resources.
As with naturalists of past centuries, I hope to encourage curiosity in the viewer so as to inspire conservation and stewardship.
