Part of the Gifts of Imperfection Collection

The Gifts of Imperfection collection features botanical cyanotypes on repurposed Baltic Birch panels with rich blue tones and earthy wood grain. Inspired by the bittersweetness of changing seasons, fleeting moments with family, unexpected delights, persistent shortcomings, gardening ephemera and forest finds, this series of small works is about accepting and embracing imperfection and impermanence and seeing beauty in it all.

The series invokes the Japanese aesthetic of Wabi-sabi or "wisdom in natural simplicity." It combines two concepts: wabi, "subdued, austere beauty" and sabi, "rustic patina.”

“Wabi-sabi nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect." - Richard Powell, Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence

Each piece is a footprint of the collection and making process that brought it into being. I purposefully sought out plant specimens that weren't "perfect" and embraced when they fell apart, scattered and changed with use. During the exposure process, I played with abstracted plant forms and textures, soft and hard edges, echoed shapes and shadows and different kinds of movement. These processes highlight natural weathering and decomposition that reveal delicate botanical structures, life's beautiful bones.