Inspiration for this piece came from noticing how differently flowers age depending on where they spend their lives. We often think of wilting flowers as those sitting in a vase at home, but flowers growing outside wilt in very different ways. The iris in this painting grew outdoors, where exposure to the sun and wind caused its petals to slowly curl inward as it aged. I was drawn to how dramatically its form transformed while remaining unmistakably an iris.
When I observe flowers, I often think about the ways they mirror our own lives. Just as flowers age differently depending on their environment, people are shaped by where they grow up, what they experience, and the conditions they move through over the course of their lives. No two flowers wilt in the same way, and no two people age in the same way. This painting became a way for me to think about how change, aging, and transformation are influenced by the world around us while remaining essential to who we are.
