The trees die out in a rock garden of dwarf rhododendron, birch, and fire-colored ash, set about with strap ferns, edelweiss, and unknown alpine florets, fresh mineral blue. Then a woodpecker of vivid green appears, and though I know that I am awake, that I actually see such a bird, the blue flowers and green woodpecker have no more reality, or less, than the yellow-throated marten of my dream.[1]

When she died, the rhododendron in her garden passed back into wildness; for to garden is to impose order upon the landscape and control upon the plants. The bush lives on, blooming a different kind of flower– one made not for her and with no help from her, but because of her.

The smell of the rose made our eyes roll back.

Twilight changed the shade of a different ordered arrangement. The tree was purple. The sky was the color of cantaloupe. And the electric light cast ultramarine shadows into an empty expanse of nurtured potential. She would go to a field, dig up a plant, and bring it home to cultivate a protected opportunity for it to grow.

I know that I am awake is an exhibition bringing together new work from Paul Heyer and Virginia Poundstone.

Paul Heyer lives and works in Los Angeles. He has been included in exhibitions throughout the United States including, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, Proof Gallery, Boston, MA, “Whitney’s Biennial”, c.r.e.a.m projects, Brooklyn, NY, and Daniel Reich Gallery, NY. He received his MFA from Columbia University in 2009.

Virginia Poundstone lives and works in New York City. She has been included in the following recent exhibitions: Louis B. James, NY, Thierry-Goldberg, NY, La Mama Gallery (solo) NY, Sculpture Center, Long Island City, NY, Harris Lieberman (solo), NY, and Time – Life, Taxter & Spengemann, NY, among others. She has recently been named Top 100 young artists to watch in Modern Painters. She received her MFA from Columbia University in 2009.

[1] Matthiessen, Peter. The Snow Leopard. New York: Penguin Books, 1973. p. 93.