Nothing brings me more hope than visiting my local park and community garden in the evening, watching grass and leaves bend beneath the fading sun. I love being surrounded by my neighbors recharging in the verdant green. These moments bring me back to myself and remind me that life is resilient. From the grass pushing through cracks in the sidewalk, to the butterfly resting on my car windshield, nature’s resilience surrounds us.

For this piece, I collected physical materials from my neighborhood park, including leaves, flower stems, strips of bark, and dandelion tufts. I examined these materials under a microscope and animated them with stop-motion. The rough texture of the background comes from a crayon etching of grass, while the patterns in the butterfly’s wings are drawn from microscopic animations of leaves. Pops of color and texture come from painted petals, leaves, and bark.

I arranged these elements like a stained-glass mosaic within the wings of a butterfly, a symbol that has long represented perseverance and lightness for me. I then digitally composited the tactile animation in After Effects to create the final looping image. This piece reflects my belief that moments of beauty, resilience, and renewal can be found everywhere, even within the urban landscape.