The near perfect lavender bloom in the foreground is not what I would draw your attention to; rather it’s the decomposing zinnia behind with its fading violet petals that I find most compelling and most beautiful in its end state of senescence.

Zinnias, those brightly-hued, most pedestrian of flowers, die with dignity and sublime beauty; and perhaps more importantly without regret as it seems to me. Observing the transient quality and the beauty of their imperfection, one might imagine the zinnia inspired the wabi-sabi aesthetic as much as Murata Juko’s fifteenth-century transformation of the lavish tea ceremony for the elite into one of simplicity for all.

Year: 2025
Location: Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Collector’s Edition of 15
Dimensions: 19.5" x 13"