ARTIST STATEMENT
Symmagery is my living inquiry into how we see, how we feel, and how we remember ourselves as nature.
It is a lens of alignment that invites us to feel more deeply connected to our true nature and at home within the greater body of life, each of us expressing our own unique place in the whole.
At the heart of Symmagery is the camera as metaphor. The lens becomes an aperture of attention, a way of focusing, capturing, and revealing pathways that nourish our remembrance of true nature.
Through mirrored layers of imagery, abstract patterns emerge with a sense of balance and harmony. Contours and textures echo one another like an infinity mirror, where patterns become pathways and shapes become portals. Within these reflections, we encounter both the personal self and the universal Self. Like ripples across water or echoes moving through air, the same pulse reverberates through the microcosm and the macrocosm.
Through magnification and abstraction, I explore the undulating interplay between inner and outer worlds, between intricate details and expansive mystery. Seeing becomes a sacred act. We are not only observers of life, but seers into the nature of our own being here, alive.
I AM ALIVE
You see, I am alive, I am alive
I stand in good relation to the earth
I stand in good relation to the gods
I stand in good relation to all that is beautiful
Excerpt from The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee
by N. Scott Momaday
Central to Symmagery is my deep appreciation for mutual and synergistic relationships, the forms of symbiosis where distinct beings thrive through their connection with one another. My inspirations include lichens, where algae and fungi, two very different life forms, coexist as a single organism; frogs, amphibians that move between the worlds of land and water through different stages of their life cycle; and my undergraduate thesis exploring edge effects between forests and clearings and their influence on hypogeous fungi.
Each of these relationships reveals the beauty that emerges when distinct worlds meet, intertwine, and elevate one another, allowing life to flourish in new and unexpected ways. This same pattern is reflected throughout our shared existence, where human and more-than-human life, animate and inanimate forms, each uniquely express a common source. Diversity is not division, but a cornucopia of expressions of one life force.
UPHOLD
Love of frogs: I grew up with a pond playing with frogs, salamanders and array of pond life
My wish is to uphold a new platform for raising awareness of our “play”ce in nature.
The creative process itself is an adventure of inquiry and exploration. Through imagination and embodied presence, I engage in a playful practice of noticing: spirals, ripples, elliptical eye shapes emerging within undulating lines, and patterns of breath and life force moving through form. This somatic inquiry is deeply informed by my practice of Embodyoga®, where feeling becomes the first language of awareness. Before analysis, there is sensation. Before concept, there is contact. Through this embodied relationship, art becomes not only something we see, but something we experience.
Gardening is another living teacher within Symmagery. To garden is to consciously cultivate habitat where diverse organisms can thrive together. It is the practice of tending ecotones, those fertile meeting places where different worlds come together. Like the semi-permeable membrane of a cell, healthy boundaries create resilience, exchange, and the capacity to flourish. In both garden and artwork, relationship is the medium. Reciprocity is the guiding design principle.
Symmagery Design is an expression of appreciation, an adornment that celebrates our wonder and reverence for the vast diversity of life. Each piece invites us into the reflective interplay between our bodies and the greater patterns of nature. As we look closely, we discover ourselves. As we soften our gaze, we perceive the wholeness that surrounds us. The apparent contrasts across the spectrum, light and dark, detail and abstraction, individuality and unity, reveal themselves as complementary expressions of the same shared source.
Through Symmagery, I invite an awakening toward our essential nature, toward joy, vitality, and a more intimate relationship with life. May these images serve as mirrors, reminding us that we belong to one another and to the living Earth. May they help us consciously recognize what has always been true: the beauty and brilliance of our designs are reflections of a common life force expressing through us all.
MOTHEring with Mother Nature
My children & I exploring the abundance of Mother Nature
Tara Gordon is a naturalist and artist whose work celebrates the intricate, symbiotic relationships found in nature.
Through her lens, Tara explores the patterns that connect all living things—both organic and inorganic—by capturing the raw beauty of the natural world and transforming it into kaleidoscopic, bi-symmetrical designs. These patterns mirror the interconnectedness of life, where even the smallest details reflect the larger harmony of the universe.
Her creations range from photographic art to functional designs, including yoga mats, clothing, and architectural installations. With each piece, Tara invites the viewer to experience nature’s patterns in a new light, offering a visual celebration of our shared humanity, vitality, and the timeless rhythms of the earth. By merging imagery with intimacy, Tara’s work serves as a reminder of the profound relationships that exist between us and the world around us.
