WILDERNESS
The wilderness can be a place of beauty or one of apprehension, depending on your familiarity with the area. It simultaneously creates a curiosity to explore its unique climate and features but also contains a component of unpredictability. Navigating the landscape, a place still tamed with boundary lines, takes on a form of undetermined time and dimension when walking into the unknown. This collage series is a depiction of the wilderness we travel through as we navigate and explore life. As we expand our borders beyond our acclimatized routine, we run the risk to embark on something unfamiliar and frightening but also refreshing and exciting. Taking these chances allows for cultivation to take place, causing growth through change. Each of the collaged landscapes varies in terrain, some contain warm, colorful foliage while others are barren and sharp, acting as a metaphor for the joys and trials we might face. The component of time shapes the experience in these places, as it’s an obscured aspect into venturing into the wilderness. We are left with not knowing how long we will be navigating through the wild. I was inspired by the book of Exodus, found in the Old Testament Bible. Though it is an aged story, I found the idea to be personally relatable in current time. The individuals traveling through a wilderness for an uncertain amount of time, to a place marked specifically for them, reminds me that we all have a unique place that we are bound towards. This could be a physical point, reaching an understanding in our life, or embarking on something new, we are all called towards a place where we belong. To arrive to where we are headed, we are not going to feel in control but as we are prompted to venture out, we must know that we have the best promises placed just ahead of us.