Above: Surprise, Surprise No. 24 creates the sensation of looking into a living mineral world, where color, light, and form continually shift between solid and ephemeral states. The layered oranges, blues, and greens recall the internal glow of fire opal—a material whose colors seem to exist within the stone rather than on its surface.
At the center of the image, the drawing becomes a powerful presence. It suggests an opening, a recess, a mark impressed into earth, or a form moving through the landscape. At moments it recalls animal movement, like a zebra crossing a field, while at others it becomes something more abstract: an orb, a planet, or a structure caught at the instant of transformation.
The surrounding colors create an atmospheric world rather than a defined location. Light seems to circulate around the drawing, creating the feeling of a magical space where natural forces, memory, and imagination overlap.
Below: The reverse surface reveals the transparency and layered construction of the work. The dark drawing remains visible but softened through the paper, becoming less an object on the surface and more a presence suspended within atmosphere.
The image shifts toward a coastal or marsh landscape: dune grasses moving in wind, water striking rocks, or vegetation existing between land and water. Yet the central form continues to suggest another possibility—a large animal presence, a face, or a monumental figure emerging from the surrounding environment.
The two views transform one another, allowing the same marks to become landscape, creature, and memory depending on how they are encountered.
Reflection: Surprise, Surprise No. 24 explores the moment when perception begins to transform an image into something else. A mark becomes a creature; a shape becomes a landscape; a surface becomes a world. The work embraces the human impulse to search for recognition while allowing those discoveries to remain temporary and uncertain.
The process of folding, transferring, reopening, and accumulating layers creates an image that feels suspended in becoming. Like a dream, a natural specimen, or a moment captured in animation, the work holds a state of transition rather than a final answer.
The drawing’s prominence creates a feeling of orbit and movement, as though a planet, organism, or unknown form is slowly turning through space. Surprise, Surprise No. 24 exists in that threshold between solidity and atmosphere, where nature, memory, and imagination become inseparable.
Above: Surprise, Surprise No. 24 creates the sensation of looking into a living mineral world, where color, light, and form continually shift between solid and ephemeral states. The layered oranges, blues, and greens recall the internal glow of fire opal—a material whose colors seem to exist within the stone rather than on its surface.
At the center of the image, the drawing becomes a powerful presence. It suggests an opening, a recess, a mark impressed into earth, or a form moving through the landscape. At moments it recalls animal movement, like a zebra crossing a field, while at others it becomes something more abstract: an orb, a planet, or a structure caught at the instant of transformation.
The surrounding colors create an atmospheric world rather than a defined location. Light seems to circulate around the drawing, creating the feeling of a magical space where natural forces, memory, and imagination overlap.
Below: The reverse surface reveals the transparency and layered construction of the work. The dark drawing remains visible but softened through the paper, becoming less an object on the surface and more a presence suspended within atmosphere.
The image shifts toward a coastal or marsh landscape: dune grasses moving in wind, water striking rocks, or vegetation existing between land and water. Yet the central form continues to suggest another possibility—a large animal presence, a face, or a monumental figure emerging from the surrounding environment.
The two views transform one another, allowing the same marks to become landscape, creature, and memory depending on how they are encountered.
Reflection: Surprise, Surprise No. 24 explores the moment when perception begins to transform an image into something else. A mark becomes a creature; a shape becomes a landscape; a surface becomes a world. The work embraces the human impulse to search for recognition while allowing those discoveries to remain temporary and uncertain.
The process of folding, transferring, reopening, and accumulating layers creates an image that feels suspended in becoming. Like a dream, a natural specimen, or a moment captured in animation, the work holds a state of transition rather than a final answer.
The drawing’s prominence creates a feeling of orbit and movement, as though a planet, organism, or unknown form is slowly turning through space. Surprise, Surprise No. 24 exists in that threshold between solidity and atmosphere, where nature, memory, and imagination become inseparable.