These images are part of a series of photographs that I made on the daily hikes I began taking during the first few months of the quarantine. While my previous work focused on the graphic forms of the ocean and beaches of Chappaquiddick, this group of images from near our home in Stow, MA feels like a progression towards a more Formalist view of nature.
The photographs began organically enough; I would snap a few images of the the reflections I saw in pools, ponds, and streams on my iPhone and post them to my Facebook page. Those early images inspired me to further explore the way water and winter ice reflected and diffused the light in the forest and how the reflections interacted with the movement of the body of water. I liked how the three-dimensional forest above me combined with the water (and in some cases what lay beneath the surface of the water) to create a two-dimensional abstract image.
Looking at the images now, as a whole body of work, I can see reflected (sorry!) in them the gratitude I have for the sense of solace and healing my forest hikes brought me during that turbulent year. Nature presents to us all the beauty, romance, chaos, and order that exists in the world, as an artist it’s my job to offer and share tribute for those gifts.