Field Notes from the Cultural Apothecary
Against a dark, water-like depth, the white silhouette of a tree reaches upward toward the full moon. Its branches shimmer like threads of light, and within them, a pair of birds rests - silent witnesses to the hour between day and night.
The scene is framed with warm, ornamental tones, the saffron glow of fading sun meeting the cool breath of twilight. In this garden of stillness, shadow and illumination intertwine, and the world holds its breath before the night fully blooms.
Rows of patterned landscape beneath a golden full moon. The painting glows in hues of blue, beige, brown and green - earth and sky joined in a gentle rhythm of form and light.
At the center stands a cypress, its slender shape framing a window into another world. Through it, a blossoming cherry branch extends outward, crossing the threshold between realms. The cypress becomes both portal and guardian, holding the moment where nature, pattern, and imagination converge.
Tree-Line Garden is a meditation on continuity - the living rhythm that binds what is rooted to what is dreamed.
Inspired by the historic Wâh Gardens of Mughal Emperor Akbar - whose very name means “Wow, what a garden” - this painting reimagines that royal retreat as a living harmony of water and design.
Water channels weave through symmetrical architecture, where blue, red, green, and golden hues shimmer like reflections of light and time. Within the garden lie quiet invitations: a labyrinth to explore, a carpet for rest, and trees that form ornamental patterns, echoing the rhythm of the architecture itself. The gate stands open, welcoming all who wish to enter.
Garden Wâh is both memory and invitation - where history flows into imagination, and symmetry blossoms into wonder.
To the Maya, the Ceiba Tree - Yaxche - is the first tree of existence, the axis mundi uniting the underworld, the earth and the sky. Through it, all realms remain bound in breath and balance.
From the luminous waters of creation, a crocodile rises, its arms outstretched as the sacred tree begins to grow. Crowned with a canopy of leafage, its branches extend in all four directions. During its ascent, the Ceiba Tree gave birth to life on earth and set the stars and heavenly bodies in motion.
The Maya believe in a sacred connection between humankind and the Ceiba Tree. Like a mother, the bearer of children, life itself can only perpetuate as long as the Ceiba Tree is alive.
