Ferns and lichen, moss, wood, and leaves: fragile materials, vulnerable to the seasons and the elements.  But also flexible and strong, resilient.

During long walks in the woods, I observed the hanging mosses, clinging lichens, and sprouting ferns as forms I wanted to incorporate into my work.  They whispered to me of hair fluttering on the wind, veins splayed across branches, spines sprouting from the ground: body parts strewn about the forest.  Over time this palette expanded to include wasp-nest paper, leaves, bark, metal leaf, and paint, all held together by wax and resin on wood panels.

This work springs from my personal experience with seasonal depression, which is closely tied to the landscape and weather patterns of the Pacific Northwest.  It is also informed by my experience with physical disability, and three decades of dealing with the vicissitudes of my own body.  While crafting this work, I was meditating on this, and the stories hidden away inside all of us–that inner wilderness in which we cache our questions and wounds, the parts of us that are fragile and vulnerable, the ways we grapple with the dark.  And the ways we hope for light, for sight, to be seen. 

I was also contemplating renewal and redemption: how we rise from the damp darkness, emerging like a fern unfurling from the forest floor, transforming decay into new life, creating something beautiful out of this beautiful mess.

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Each of these unique 3-dimensional mixed-media pieces is crafted by hand. Materials include wax, resin, paint, paper, botanical elements, metal leaf, and photography, on a wood panel. View the video above to see how they are crafted. Click an image below to enlarge and see the title and details for each piece. Visit the Shop to purchase an Original or a Print.