Sun Shade. Acrylic on shade sail, 8 x 8 feet, 2026

The function of any shade is to limit the unpleasant effects of sunlight: to increase one’s time in the sun by tempering the harsh effects of it. While sunshine is nurturing and pleasant, it is also radiation, quickly becoming fatal without the protective partition of the atmosphere.

For all of our time beneath it, the sun remains elusive—we cannot see it directly, and to attempt to do so is to blind oneself. And yet, sunlight not only makes the world visible, but is responsible for the growth and nourishment of everything on it.

In this installation, a shade sail serves as the substrate for a painting of saturated, cloud-like forms. Standing in contrast to the subtropical scenery of Central Florida, this work imagines the shield of ether between us and the essential yet unyielding force of the sun. What is our threshold for unbearable necessity? How do we position ourselves relative to such forces? And what structures must we build to support our own flourishing?