My parents were teachers with a great sense of adventure. They loved the outdoors, and each summer,  our family of six piled into the Suburban with tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, and our small collection of  8-track tapes. For months, we’d wind our way across the country, from Maine to California – sleeping under the stars.

Nothing prepared me for when the stars--my mom, dad, and brother--fell from the sky. They say that breaths come in pairs, except at two times in our lives--the beginning and the end. I don’t believe it. I hold one for each of them.

Looking for light in the darkness, I retraced the cross-country trips of my youth and explored the backroads of Maine. I wanted to rekindle the wonder of my untethered childhood while remembering those I had lost. The Wild Cosmos pairs photographs with audio versions of my writing loosely based on my journal of field notes and dreams. The multi-sensory installation reconsiders grief as a natural, wonder-filled experience.

Nature is my portal to survival. Weaving through life and loss, the humble and the magical, the past and the present, I emerge resilient like the wild cosmos; a flower can thrive in almost any circumstance.