In my visual work, I investigate quiet moments of human interaction near, by, and in nature. By what means do we exist and engage with organic sources, and how do we negotiate a relationship with the larger more-than-human world as we infiltrate it? I’ve thought about desire paths, in particular—the paths created by humans and other animals as we move through the world—for a long time. I find their formation through erosion simultaneously destructive and beautiful. They’re a physical reminder that all our choices, unconscious or not, are marked by and in the earth. A comic felt like the most natural medium to illustrate a convergence of the literal and speculative experience of passing through one of these trails. Although nearly everyone has encountered a desire path in their lifetime, it’s often hard to explain the concept in words alone. However, with an image, understanding arrives nearly instantaneously. For this piece, I chose a limited color palette to highlight the trails and desires that create them. It’s easy to overlook both the paths themselves and an individual’s impact on the landscape—but once painted in hot pink, neither can be ignored.
