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Looking Inwardly, I often find personal solace in the garden; a wisp of pure air, the vibrant green glow of life, the deep earthly scent of soil all at the edge of the woods. It's here that I feel most connected to my own source. To gaze through intricate leaf structures feels as though I'm connecting to something far grander than myself; an experience that cannot be put into words. Such vien systems eminate outward within the leaf, replicating the entire tree. It's simply extraordinary to realize the same vein structures emanate throughout our own bodies. Once more, it's quite a spectacle to awaken to the fact that the same elements that create plants, animals, earth and ourselves exist far beyond human exploration. These were the thoughts and feelings that invoked a particular nurturing process in my semi-organic manifestations.

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The strong desire to nurture led the invigorating experience of keeping something alive, facilitating the growth and development of a living thing. The discovery and growth of such specimens brought forth a greater sense of adventure and story into my pieces. Almost every pressed specimen became an ethereal fossil of something I once grew or found in my own backyard. This particular unraveling of events became a crucial form of guidence to the "worlds within worlds," journey.

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However, there was a persistent dualism that refused to be ignored. I awakened to the harrowing reality that the way in which we alter the earth so serve our own needs can be very destructive. Although the species that makes up the ecosystem possess remarkable resiliency, all aspects of biodiversity begin to vaporize once a vital habitat has been "divided and conqured."The natural vegetation of a region becomes characterized by these divisions notoriously known as ecosystem fragmentation. I was left wondering why we continue to destroy our most vital connections we so heavily depend on.

  

This harsh reality instilled a reflection of insight into the dualism between man and nature. On one hand, we tend to view nature as an event separate from ourselves; a different world from our own "synthetic"one. Yet, in another respect, there are  those of us open enough to awaken to the reality that nature is part of us, or perhaps is us. When one discovers this interconnection, they begin to expand their sense of self. Small events that were once mundane are now rather vivd and awe inspiring, to say the least. In retrospect, the synthesis of my early manifestations became a means of connecting back to my own inner "root source."