Helianthus

"By folding and refolding, layer after layer, art hopes to restore order on the fringes of chaos. And if restore is the wrong verb, then let's say that by folding and refolding, art tries to impose or, at best, to invent order. Art is a confrontation with chaos--the revelation and construction of meaning through form." (Andre Aciman, Homo Irrealis, "Beethoven's Souffle in A Minor" p217.) One day a year, I stop the madness to remember, reflect and restore to my heart a sense of calm and order. That is what sunflowers do for me. Vincent van Gogh regarded sunflowers as gratitude. This year, I borrowed from the past--a monogrammed silver relish tray, a wedding present to my grandparents; a bud vase, one of a pair that adorned a bathroom shelf in the first house I can remember; a hand-tatted lace table cloth whose origin I have lost--I captured a moment in time and tamed it.

Hernando, Florida, 13 September 2021