Between Golden Stems

About this piece

Mike Gedj frames a dense stand of bamboo as a rhythm of golden verticals, dark joints, and fine diagonal branches. Detailed foreground surfaces stand against softly blurred foliage, giving the vivid greens and yellows a layered depth.

The story

I found myself looking between the bamboo stems rather than beyond them. Each narrow opening held another shade of green, while the golden surfaces carried scratches, stains, and dark rings. I framed a small section of the grove, letting the slender branches interrupt its upright rhythm. What drew me in was the difference between repetition and sameness: every stem belonged to the pattern, but none wore the light in quite the same way.