Boreal VI – IX are all part of a miniseries within Boreal Ornament III that play with a circular shape at their center. What sets Boreal VII apart from Boreal VI, VIII and IX is its clear nod towards botany. Although botanical elements are self-evident in virtually all of Austin’s work, they exist on a spectrum from mathematical shape to unmistakable flower. However much of the mathematical exists within Boreal VII, it certainly sits on the floral edge of this spectrum.

The result is nothing short of remarkable. Your mind may be as excited by the calculus of her work as your nose is by the anticipation of green growth and fresh dirt. Different people will experience this piece in their own way, but a general flooding of the senses by all things natural is likely the most common sensation. Many of her works bring to mind the inner workings of plant cells, and so we have here a clear self-similar piece where the representation is accurate at both the micro and macro scale. Whether the flowers themselves or the cells that make up the petals, Boreal VII is omnipresent.

Speaking more functionally, both the horizon line and skyline are set using the same orchid totem pole design we’ve seen in Green Mantle (the most panoramic work within this collection). Here she has created both sky and horizon in a way that may be interpreted as day and night. And so once again we see a borderline mythological story at work, just beyond the grasp of our reasoning. Like a dream we can’t quite remember but still feel upon waking.