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Acrylic and graphite on handmade gampi paper
57"x36"
I spend time at the lotus ponds at Ganna Walska’s Lotusland, sketching, photographing, and simply watching theses mysterious plants at different stages of their life cycle. Mysterious, because so much of the plant is unseen. They root beneath the water and once a year cycle towards the light.
From deep below the surface, the lotus flower's fragile stem snakes its way through dark waters, seeking sunlight. Its radiant corolla beams above the water—a single blossom opening and closing in response to the sun's turning.
I dip each torn edge of silvery handmade gampi paper into a pool of darkly pigmented water. As the edges absorb the pigment, the color pulls toward the bright center. As color travels, it pales to pastel. The edge-stained pieces collaged together form an ethereal quilted ground on which to work.
The tangled chaos of unruly life below the water is what interests me most. Pliant stems from bulbous roots twist upward through murky waters, tunneling towards the luminous surface—my brush follows.
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