River Testing (Willamette River January 3 2014) Painting

Imagine how interesting, and complex, the world would be if "every natural system had an inner life, a conscious center, from which it directs and observes its action" (quoted passage from Werner J. Krieglstein's Compassion: a new philosophy of the other, 2002, p. 118). My most recent work plays with this idea that all natural systems may have an inner life. Through facilitating the process to create drawings like what you see here, I strive to give these natural systems a voice through their creating of self-portraits. The movement of the water results in the mark-making, and the colors are based on the water quality data, when available, together with the color of the sky reflected on the water.