“A Reservoir Within”

Rushing out of the grocery store, my peripheral vision caught sight of a table overflowing with succulents. I stood still midway through the electronic door, knowing that returning inside would delight my spirits. Circling back through the entrance, I scuttled over, allowing the subtle colors of the leaves to fill my view, imagination lost in form as each petal arose from the layer beneath… glorious shades of pink and purple fading out to the edges against lush verdant centers.

I printed the photograph onto textile and began waxing with encaustic medium, then carved out their beautiful forms. I reflected on how like these moisture-filled reservoirs we were as we weathered the pandemic. Abruptly changing our lives in the blink of an eye, we had to call on inner resources to exist in a changed world. All levels of our lives were affected, and there was a deep and wide continuum of loss, renewed perspective on what we may have previously taken for granted, and beauty in the tremendous effort and sacrifice put forth to cope and survive, and perhaps, even grow.

As I began to pigment their cloudy, ridged forms, their aliveness reminded me that the truest essence of life was illuminated during this tumultuous time. They became topographical maps in my mind— visual depictions of the peaks and valleys of experience that are inevitable during pain, change, and uncertainty. The wire protrusions with energetic glowing tips that began to grow out of these rolling lines mirror the deep parts of ourselves that depend on connection with the wider world and those closest to our hearts, seeking this vital contact out in unfamiliar ways. These tiny sprouts elicit hope, the resiliency of the human spirit, and that we are not alone in the quest.