Tiny Cosmologies

Tiny Cosmologies

“As artists, we aim to live in a way in which we see the extraordinary hidden in the seemingly mundane. Then challenge ourselves to share what we see in a way that allows others a glimpse of this remarkable beauty.”

— Rick Rubin from The Creative Act: A Way of Being

A hot summer day in Phoenix. Always time for a cool drink. On one particular day, it was simple … some flavored bubbly water. First … ice into the glass. Then the liquid. I opened the bottle and poured … maybe a little too quickly because the ice cubes cracked and popped unexpectedly sending a drop of water into my eye. I blinked and looked into the glass.

Then Really looked.

What was inside those ice cubes I wondered? I got my camera and put on a macro lens. I saw a world wholly surprising with intricate details … crevices and caverns, bubbles frozen in time.

The exploration of ice cubes began. Something so commonplace became an adventure. Making ice in rectangles, square cubes and spheres. Cracking them part way through the freezing process. Allowing them to melt into liquids or on various antique bowls and plates. Shining different light sources through them. Watching them spin and morph. I saw streams running across vast plains, mouths of volcanoes erupting, miniature oceans roiling on the earth, and vast galaxies spinning out in space.

I am drawn to make these images for the sheer joy of discovery and for their ephemeral beauty.