My first image, called "Drifting Monolith", was created from the SEM image of Jamaican Rooibos tea leaves. The magnified microscopic images depict the organic textures of the tea leaf resembling mountains and stone formations. I then transformed this scientific image into a suspended rock drifting through space with the background being an imported image from a NASA telescope.
Some themes that arise from this piece are loneliness and perseverance which are showcased in a psychological landscape created by the vast cosmos in the background. Even though the source of this material comes from a delicate tea leaf, the rock has a massive, durable appearance. The rock's rough surface signals to a past molded by pressure and invisible forces.
I want viewers to consider how something seemingly insignificant and commonplace can have unexpected power. We frequently possess more depth and resiliency than what is apparent on the surface, much like a tea leaf under magnification.
Source Materials: Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images of Jamaican Rooibos tea leaves, digitally altered and combined, and an online NASA telescope image.