Orbis Tertius (2015-2018)

These works are intricate pen and ink drawings of entirely imaginary planets that I have chosen to create as a meditative exercise. I’m not entirely sure of the specific reasons why I felt compelled to create them, and there is no deeper meaning behind the process other than it being a whimsical flight of the imagination. As a child, I would often delight in creating elaborate imaginary treasure maps of fictional islands, and in some way, this artistic endeavor is merely a natural continuation of that childhood pastime. The title of this series draws inspiration from the thought-provoking story “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” by Jorge Luis Borges, which explores a fictional world known as Tlön, where its inhabitants adhere to a form of subjective idealism. They deny the existence of an objective reality and communicate in a language that intriguingly lacks nouns, further emphasizing the themes of imagination and perception.