Wildflower Ripples -Julia Nemfield
I felt an immediate connection upon my first reading of Stevie Howell’s Never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. Over the past couple of years, I worked to shift my art practice towards collage. This path forward has been difficult, but I am always encouraged when I find direction and comfort in the wild things. The three hand-cut collages in Wild Things: Collection 1 represent the distilled sense of peace I find in the vastness and consistency of water. As someone who has grown up feeling the ripple effects of a loved one’s emotions, I find respite in the sensory escape of being underwater. The ocean shows me mercy when I am impatient; it makes me feel vulnerable when I am closed off. It’s wildly unapologetic essence is something I strive to integrate within myself every day—I believe this presence, underlying all of my work, is the connection I feel between my collages and Stevie Howell’s words.
