My painting practice explores how landscapes are viewed and experienced. In the Midwest, understandings of what is natural and unnatural are influenced by and reflected in the practices of industrial agriculture and prairie restoration. These contrasting perceptions and experiences transmit a sense of being both absent and present in a land that, while continually cultivated, still exerts its own agency. These material encounters and physical presences are reflected in my process, where I use traditional mediums to carefully record my mundane daily surroundings. I turn these intensive observations of the landscape into collaged oil paintings as a way to actively connect with and keep a seasonal record of the natural environment.