Flowers have been a large part of my work for years, but they took on new meaning for me in 2020. As our backyards became a common respite from the fear, isolation, and boredom of the early days of the pandemic, I thought about the ubiquity of flowers in our lives. We use them to celebrate when life is good, as well as to soothe ourselves when it is not. Their ambiguity is what allows them to be such a versatile symbol. I create my flowers using second-hand shirts sourced from thrift shops. As I shop for materials, I focus on searching for certain colors and patterns, but I also think about the people who once wore these items of clothing. I wonder how the shirts end up here. Did the size or style no longer fit the owner? Or maybe it was part of the final Goodwill run after a loved one passed. I like to think that an article of clothing can have a memory, retaining an essence of the person who wore it, and that once transformed, a little bit of their spirit becomes part of the artwork.