In my newest body of work, “Cathedral,” I am repurposing an ancient triptych format and using a contemporary lens to look at the environment. These works showcase deserts, forests, and oceans from my travels. I created these paintings to present the environment in a magical light, and to highlight the marvels of our landscapes, just as religious figures were depicted in the altarpiece paintings of the Middle Ages. Our contemporary relationship with nature has put us in peril.

My love of the outside began when I was growing up, roaming the countryside of California’s North Bay. I then traveled east for college and majored in Religious Studies, which led me to the affecting altarpiece paintings. Now, to continue my lifelong obsession with organic forms, I’m using the triptych frame to explore abstracted environments. In these pieces, I am echoing religious paintings while depicting secular settings and geometric forms. Each painting’s name comes from phrases of Rumi’s poetry, the 13th Century Sufi mystic.

Artists who have influenced my work include Wassily Kandinsky, Henri Matisse, Frank Stella, Ruth Asawa, Monir Farmanfarmaian, and Jan van Eyck.