Matt W. Moore created mosaic mandalas using elements foraged on the mountain and in the valley: River pebbles and stones, red rocks, dead branches, bark, dried wild grasses from yesteryear and cut dead branches. “Going into this project felt like a very natural evolution. The geometric, concentric vocabulary was already front of mind for me, the exciting part was to translate the ideas into this new organic medium. At first it felt like playing caveman Tetris, somewhat of a flashback to building block castles I made as a child, but as the configurations evolved to be more complex I very much felt like a graphic artist or bricklayer, every measurement had to be dialed and every pebble or twig needed to be carefully placed. By the end of the series it no longer felt like assemblage art, instead it was more of a painterly process, with the palette to my left and my paintbrush replaced with elemental expressions and flourishes. Kinda like painting with mother nature’s paintbrush.”