Bloom in Relief

This piece began at the border between painting and sculpture, where a flat clay ground becomes a stage for three-dimensional life. The central flower, pressed and carved while the clay was still soft, remembers the pressure of fingers and tools; the gold that traces its veins was added last, a quiet finishing light. The three painted rondelle beads beside it carry their own small cosmologies: radiating lines in coral and teal and rose, each one a miniature sun. Together they rest against the flower like an offering, or a conversation between forms. The scattered paint sprays, cobalt on white, green on white, were made quickly, almost accidentally. They keep the piece from closing in on itself. A lotus does not bloom in a sealed room, and neither does this plaque.