I created an ephemeral field journal which describes how my extended period of observation in Claude Monet’s garden creates the space for discovering a deeper awareness of the cultivation of fragile life. The project has two facets: 1) cinemagraphs and 2) peace studies. The cinemagraphs are ovals quivering with small movements that evoke the feeling of a breathing landscape; these cinemagraphs reflect on the quality of near stillness in Monet’s water garden. Each cinemagraph is created by digitally stitching painted and layered photographic images together to encapsulate a shimmering moment of time. The peace studies involve gestures of paint and fallen flowers from Monet’s garden. Each study is a meditation on climate change inspired by interviews with the gardeners from Monet’s garden. The journal tries to capture the fleeting quality of light on a flower while recognizing that our climate is always in a state of fluctuation.

This project is generously supported by Giverny: The Versailles Foundation Munn Artist Program and The Terra Foundation for American Art.

A sampling of the cinemagraphs as well as early work on the peace journal can be found below. A genesis NFT portfolio edition of the cinemagraphs is available here.