Après l'orage

Après l’orage is a piece from my Parlour Games Series, which challenges perceptions of what is deemed suitable for domestic display, through motif, color, and varying degrees of visual complexity.

I chose this title, which means after the storm, because the shape of the fungi as well as the palette evoke images of fluffy cumulonimbus clouds bathed in sunset hues following a brief, intense storm. Colorado storms rarely settle in like they do in my Midwestern hometown. An ominous raft of clouds will creep over the sky, followed by a furious pelting of rain and hail for a few minutes, and then the sky seems to magically reset to clear skies and fluffy clouds. The heat of the day is washed away, the air is fresher, and flora and fauna are rejuvenated.

It’s important to me to bring that raw essence of the natural world into our everyday living spaces. In our homes, we often showcase the cultivated aspects of nature, those that are shaped and controlled by human hands. The fungi featured in this artwork are as colorful and delicate as flowers in a garden. Despite this, fungi are often overlooked, underestimated, and destroyed. Après l’orage encourages us to recognize and appreciate the beauty in all facets of nature – the modest, the wild, and the sublime.