In these paintings, the intimate path-side vista is the source material for my construction of a fictional landscape. When gallivanting through the forest, head down to avoid catching my foot on a protruding rock, the miniature organic habitat commands my fascination. My eyes sift through fragile twig lattices in our California wild spaces and I find myself looking for signs of environmental strain, but also for signs that life is thriving independent from my specie’s proximity. The Teeming Rift is a portal to a world that exists alongside ours where creatures form communities, build complex homes and follow intuitive migration paths. Insects and arachnids attach themselves to and utilize the plant world in fascinating ways. As the sandy soil falls away from the base of a palm, a wormy root network is revealed that flaccidly festoons itself in fanning layers. As the filaments of a spider’s nest gradually build up opacity, it begins to hide the skeleton of the branches that support it.