Nature is something we see everyday, come into contact with everyday. But the only time we actually notice nature, is usually when it's getting in our way, when we can't control it. I wanted to create an image that represented the way most people nowadays interact with nature, or rather, don't. Given our priorities in this day and age, it seems we only like nature in an idealistic sense. We like the look of fresh flowers, and we like the feel of warm water. But we don't like unpredictability.

In order to keep nature at arm's length, the only length at which most can enjoy it, people manipulate nature or turn it into something artificial so that it becomes safe and convenient. We make chlorinated pools to enjoy water without having to deal with sand, or animal life. We make fake flowers so that we don't have to see them die. We use umbrellas to protect us from the possibility that nature will strike. We make fences and we trim plants so that everything suits our needs and our desire to keep nature contained. In order to convey this sense of manipulation and arranged control, I tried to use conventions of the classical and idealistic art of still life and portraiture that used nature. The composition is thus balanced and controlled, but obviously staged and artificial. There's also the hint of a parallel to the idealization of the female as mother earth, nurturer, who is also being controlled and taken out of natural origins.