This collection of work looks closely at bits of debris and foraged plants from the Sonoran Desert and the forests and meadows of western Massachusetts—two distinct landscapes I have inhabited for most of my life. These places, with their contrasting climates, ecologies, and seasonal rhythms, have shaped both my lived experience and my way of seeing.
I am interested in observing the natural world at close range, removed from its broader context. In isolation, the cycles of growth and decay become more legible, revealing the singular character of each form and the particular conditions—weather, soil, light, and season—that shaped it. These details, often overlooked, carry the essence of a place and offer insight into its larger ecological and temporal systems.
The series is intended as a kind of monument to place: a way of marking and preserving my own encounters with these environments. Though the objects photographed here are diminutive, their scale is deliberately amplified to underscore both their echoes within a larger system and their personal significance in my own history. In magnifying and recontextualizing these forms, I aim to affirm the inherent value of even its most modest elements.
Giclée on Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl
Editions of 10 + 2 AP
Various sizes ranging 18 × 32’ - 35 × 35”
Inquire: shelley@shelleykirkwood.com UK: Select images available via Cicek Gallery: hello@cicekgallery.com