"Beneath the glow of the Mountains of Illusion, astral flowers bloom in gentle repose." (2020), 30x24", Cyanotype, turmeric, and tea on cotton.

As I have been focusing on the Romantic nature of landscapes for the past year or so, the pandemic and stay-at-home orders provided a challenge to interacting with the outdoors (and rightfully so, safety first for myself and the community). Counties are re-opening, and more and more people are adjusting to socially distanced outdoor practices and routines, but I am still wary of my own health and those around me. We cannot control the actions of others, but we can do our part to go about our lives responsibly. So, rather than venture out into the wilderness to capture the grandeur of my surroundings, I used recycled materials and clippings from the back yard to create illusory landscapes. Flowers and grasses, dried in the summer heat, placed onto small cotton squares, lend their soft shadows to micro-landscapes that when stitched together, create a mysterious azure land. These fragments reflect an intangible world floating within the mindscape, illuminating it with the rays of the sun, a golden bridge that connects the immaterial with reality. This fragment of the Garden project is a reminder that there are worlds within worlds, within us, and we are not bound by the supposed limitations of our existence. It is a reminder that we should do our utmost to bring out the wonder inside us and share it with others, explore and shape the world not as it is, but rather as it could be.