Into the Wild
Sunflower Sunset is a luminous meditation on memory, renewal, and sustainability. The sunflower, a recurring motif in the artist’s practice, is more than a popular subject: it recalls tender childhood moments spent planting and tending gardens with both grandmothers, whose passion for cultivation nurtured the artist’s own love for the natural world. Rendered with simplicity, the flower becomes a vessel of remembrance, carrying with it themes of warmth, resilience, and continuity.
Equally central to the work is its foundation: a repurposed piece of paper salvaged from the flood of unsolicited mail and discarded product inserts that mark daily life. What once might have entered a landfill is instead transformed into art, reflecting the artist’s broader commitment to sustainability. This shift was sparked by fatherhood and a growing awareness of the responsibility owed to future generations. Planting trees, engaging in community cleanups, and reducing waste became parallel practices that shaped the creation of the Recyclart series, of which Sunflower Sunset is a part.
In this series, each work is conceived as a gift rather than a commodity—small paintings and drawings given freely, designed to divert waste from landfills while spreading beauty and joy. In Sunflower Sunset, the convergence of memory and environmental responsibility demonstrates how art, however modest in scale, can illuminate both personal histories and collective futures.