In this series, I have created composite images using photographs of fruits and vegetables that have been manipulated in PhotoShop, combined with drawings, text, and images of blank pages from medieval manuscripts.

The inspiration for this series came from many sources: my recent interest in religious icon paintings from various religions and cultures, including Eastern Orthodox Christian and Hindu Tantric traditions; my fascination with ancient manuscripts, especially those of early Christian and Gnostic gospels; my life-long interest in both science and art; and a need to explore the numinous through visual experience.

The fragility and rarity of ancient manuscripts written on papyrus, parchment, and paper makes the surviving examples all the more impressive in the their beauty and importance. Loss of these historic documents occurs through neglect, deliberate destruction, fire, water, insects, mold, and mishandling. The word "palimpsest" is derived from a Greek word meaning "to scrape off." Parchment was a rare and expensive writing material in medieval times, and it was not uncommon for an existing codex to be taken apart, the ink scraped off the pages, a new text written on the cleaned pages, and then reassembled as a new codex. The most famous example is the “Archimedes Palimpsest,” in which transcripts of several books by the Greek scientist and mathematician Archimedes, including some lost to history, were revealed beneath a religious text through the use of advanced imaging methods.

I chose to photograph fruits and vegetables in a manner that revealed internal structures and seeds, suggesting the life force. I then transformed these icon-like images to create colors and textures that I felt best matched the tone and spirit of the background parchment. Perhaps in some way I am attempting to reverse the process of destruction, and to restore images and words to pages that may have once held wisdom and beauty now lost to us forever.

This series of still life photographs was initiated during a medical crisis involving my daughter and her yet-unborn child, during which both lives hung in the balance. During this time, I tried to come to terms with the inevitable cycle of birth, growth, decay, and death. I found some solace in performing daily still life setups, and was drawn to the pomegranate as an ancient symbol of prosperity and fertility. This fruit, bursting with seeds, appears in many cultures and myths throughout time. Some speculate that the pomegranate was the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Seeds, fruits, eggs, vessels, and red juices and wine all figure in these images; overt and subtle reference to surgical intervention also appear.

The outcomes for my daughter and grandchild were better than anyone had expected; she gave birth prematurely to a healthy boy. However, her outlook remains uncertain.