"We now know that nonequilibrium can be the source of order. Self-organization is no longer outside the scope of science... The world appears to us at the same time more strange, but also more connected and more harmonious, than any of the generations which have preceded us." Dr. Ilya Prigogine
Growing up in an urban environment gave me a deep appreciation of the natural world. Although nature exists in the city, the shock for me was the existence of an environment outside of human control, a forest primeval. I remember a family trip to the botanical garden, and seeing the explosion of color in the springtime. As a child I was captivated by the thousands of radiant blooms on a bush that towered above me at the time. I believe it was the fascination of how life perpetuates itself. In the fifth grade I went on an overnight school camping trip where I came face to face with it in all its fullness. I have a photograph of my friends; Stanley and Arthur, normally stalwart types, holding poking sticks trying to prod a box turtle to come out of its shell, scared to physically touch the creature. Unbridled nature, left on its own, an environment teeming with life. Outside our element my friends and I had this sense of awe mixed with a dose of fear at the mysterious unknown we might encounter lurking in the silent canopy of woods broken by periodic rustling of branches.
My current work seems to stem from this same wonderment I experienced as a child as I look at natural phenomena and attempt to frame parts of these dynamic forces. I look at nature as a maker and observing how biological are made up of physical mechanisms. Plants encase reproductive seeds in layers of sheathing, patterns are found in rice fields on steeped hills, the gills of mushrooms, and the crusty surfaces on rocks capture my curiosity and become a striking tapestry. I take these functions and use them in the objects I make. There is this attraction that makes us want to decode or make sense of the way nature speaks in the way it grows. What at first is chaotic reveals a deeper sense of order. The odd attraction with the haphazard that we cannot encapsulate, yet we attempt to do so; our brain leans towards organization and guides us to perceive and understand our environment. If we can find order in the natural world then perhaps we can better understand ourselves. I seek out its mysteries because it recreates the flights of fancy I experienced as a child, and helps me navigate through the questions of my existence and my place in the world.