The concept for A Journey Through Cacti grew out of a trip to the local plant store and a soul-search through the many challenges I have faced in my 19-year life. Health conditions have filled my life with obstacles as big as learning to walk and as small as holding a book. My life has also been infused by death and surrounded by darkness. At the age of 17, I lost my father after his 16-year battle with dementia. I never knew him “well” and, before his death, dealt with all the heartbreaking symptoms of his illness.   

When I saw cactus plants in the local store, I was struck by the many “thorns,” short and long but all painful like my life struggles and seemingly endless, the smaller bumps along some of the plants like the smaller and less painful things I have overcome, and the twisting of some like my path in life. Some images depict softer white dots that are the focal point while the thorns are breaking away and softening. Other images appear as paths and represent the ones that are part of my journey.  Some are bumpy. Some have thorns. Some are twisted. Some soften in the distance. I was struck, too, as I photographed these plants, by the soft, perfect dots that appeared and the perfect little “sunbursts” that I feel represent me at this end of that road where I have found life-giving light and peace.  

Reflected in the set of images is the blending of art and nature, which is my therapy. It is what brought me to where I am today. It is a way of self-expression and an image of who I am as a young woman beyond the stigmas and barriers of a wheelchair and a painful history.  Each image is not my full journey, but rather only a piece of it. As each image passes, so do these life experiences.