“Sunflower Wilting” is part of my series Flora, one of several bodies of work that celebrate imperfection. It’s not that I don’t appreciate classic beauty, but imperfection is infinitely more fascinating to me than perfection, and I know that I’m capable of attaining it.

When focusing on cracks, age, passage of time and, in this case, flowers long past their prime, I am savoring moments we are often eager to ignore. They become moments that I feel honored to observe, as they teach me about process, about what is real, and to not fear truth no matter what that means in the long run.