In December 2017, I went for a day hike with my husband Ken. We parked at a trailhead for Black Mountain Trail that sits at about 5,000 feet in the Mount San Jacinto formation. From there we hiked to an elevation of about 6,000 feet. The day was calm and the sun was surprisingly warm for December. We stopped for lunch.

The wildness of the place, the protective boulders, my growing comfort with my own body in every state settled in like an invitation. I stripped down to the skin and pointed my phone camera at my face. After a series of close-ups I asked Ken to be my tripod as I moved on to engage with the rock formations. I had the strength to hike and to climb the rocks. Before surgery this would have been impossible. In less than 20 minutes, I had dozens of impromptu images created in a thrilling sweep of intuitive joyful movement.

Winnowed down to the most telling and vibrant images the work felt like short, thoughtful poems. I wrote a haiku for each photograph. These image/haiku pairings appeared in the book for the show The Body Catalog. Four images were also printed on 24” x 36” vinyl, evoking the notion of skin. The prints were mounted directly on the wall, a temporary layer of epidermis pressed to the gallery surface.