This recent body of work was inspired by my ongoing interest in peoplesí complex perceptions of the natural world. I am intrigued with my own dramatic and fantastical expectations of nature, and I question the degree to which one can be informed and misinformed via wild representations.

These paintings were created by digitally combining and abstracting images of flora and fauna derived from computer clip art, pictures found on the internet, and digital photos I have taken of landscapes from my home in Northeastern Iowa. The types of images I use are those that capture the often unseen and dramatic events in the natural world, such as animal confrontations.

The nearly monochromatic palette is intended to maintain an aesthetic relationship to black and white photographs while seamlessly veiling aspects of the collaged imagery. Some of the resulting compositions reference cloud-like formations and allude to cloud-gazing, a quintessential game of pretend in which the viewer applies meaning to distorted and shifting versions of reality.