The Quiet Wild: Reflections Between (1-2)

2025
Photograph with digital illustration printed on canvas

My contribution to Liquid Commonwealth centers on the Pigg River—a quiet, winding body of water that has become a vital space of joy, wonder, and reflection for me and my daughters. Utilizing the nostalgic Utopian Scholastic aesthetic from the 80's through the 2000's, I've layered photographs of the river with illustrations of my daughters and native animals we’ve encountered there. These visual combinations reflect both lived experience and imagination, evoking the emotional and ecological richness of Virginia’s waterways.

The river, for us, is more than a geographic feature—it’s a liminal space. It exists between the wild and the domestic, the real and the mythical, the present moment and memory. My work aims to capture that threshold, exploring how the flow of water mirrors the passage of time, the growth of children, and finding a place of harmony with the land and its creatures.

This piece celebrates water not only as a physical necessity but as a space of connection and enchantment. It’s an offering of gratitude for the life it sustains, the stories it carries, and the shared moments it holds.

The Quiet Wild: Reflections Between (1) was featured in the Liquid Commonwealth: The Art and Life of Water in Virginia exhibit at the Muscarelle Museum of Art in November 2025.