Memories metamorphose with the passage of time and often I find my perspective, the “how I wish it to be”, carries more weight in my memories than the actual reality of the moment. This work was inspired by my memories of a summer during my adolescence in Japan. I had gone to stay with my aunt, who lived in the ancient city of Nara, and I remember walking down the streets one evening after dinner, thinking to buy ice cream after the heat of the day. The moonlit sky lay above me, rice fields framed the road and stretched as far as I could see, and the smells and sounds of a hot summer night surrounded me. I can distantly recollect the perfume of the warm water and green rice, the sound of my footsteps sounding over the chorus of chirping frogs and insects. These distant memories took form within me, not as they were, but as I remember them, and I placed them upon my canvas in the shape of a beautiful lotus, not as it is, but as I wish it to be.