The ROOT SERIES (graphite on paper and digital prints) was an unusual series for me since I normally paint primal water images. But we had a hurricane in Long Island and huge uprooted trees destroyed my gardens.

That my gardens have always been very important to me is an anomaly. Raw nature, untouched by human hands, with elements of birth and renewal and painting the experience of being in Nature has been my concentration. Past series include Southern American Swamps, Northern Ice, Long Island wetlands, Chinese Rivers, and most recently, the experience of being underwater among coral reefs, etc. (which in a way is a bit like being in a garden).

As an active environmentalist, I have traveled all over the world, and have given talks, been on panels, and worked with environmental groups, but the most important ecological statement remains in my painting, where I am reminding people of our fragile ecosystem that we are in danger of destroying, and our biological connection to this world.

The loss of my flowers and gardens (I must say that they are flourishing again) caused me to come to terms with my involvement and produced the root Series. This is, of course, another way of looking at life and death, and renewal in nature. Because of this experience, my gardens have now become integrated into my life and art. They are an extension of my making art, as well as feeding my soul.

Berenice D'Vorzon