We are in a Crisis of Disconnection.
Transcendence
Transcendence is rooted in a simple but radical premise: the myth of separation — from nature, from one another, from the living world — is an illusion, and one that underlies much of our cultural and ecological suffering.
In the waterlily pond, we find a powerful counter-narrative.
Ponds are places where everything touches: light and shadow, sky and water, roots and reflection, the visible and the unseen. They reveal a truth central to animist ways of knowing — that the world is alive, responsive, and in constant relationship.
The waterlily rises from darkness into light not through force, but through reciprocity with the ecosystem that sustains it. Reflections shift, forms dissolve, and boundaries blur.
This series is not about escape but about remembrance: remembering that we are part of a breathing, interdependent world; that transcendence is not an ascent away from the Earth, but falling deeper into relationship with it.
I hope to offer a quiet antidote to the disconnection that defines so much of modern life. Each painting is an invitation to pause, to listen, and to sense the aliveness that threads through all things.
In the stillness of the pond, the myth of separation loosens — and the possibility of reconnection, reverence, and shared belonging comes sharply into view.
“We imagine ourselves to be separate from other humans, so we compete against them, and can even be convinced to fight wars against other groups of them.
We imagine ourselves to be separate from nature, so we work to dominate and enslave it even when doing so destroys the biosphere we ourselves depend on for survival.”