When I was a kid I brought back souvenirs from my wanderings in the outdoors. Rock, shells, leaves, frog skeletons – really, just bits and pieces or anything I found that l thought was interesting or pretty. I’m not sure where the urge to collect comes from but these natural morsels reminded me of where I’d been and were a fascinating part of the world I was learning about.
This painting harks back to that urge for collecting and that connection with nature.
As we grow up and go to school, and get jobs and live in our cars, as our connection with nature loosens. We bring potted plants indoors to enjoy nature around us inside our homes. It’s a controlled nature. There’s something comforting and uplifting about having plants nearby and it gives us the illusion that we are still in touch with the natural world.
In this work, there’s a cardboard sky is leaning against the wall and propped on top of bottles of artist’s medium; mediums that help to create the painted, artificial, mimetic version of nature. The cardboard sky gives a sense of the landscape without actually being able to see it. It’s not even a window, and yet it is my personal view of the desert from the inside.