Perception is the basis on which we experience daily life. Merleau- Ponty’s ideas of phenomenology, the study of conscious experience from the first-person point of view, led him to the insight that “we know not through our intellect, but through our experience.” My paintings are an exploration of the relationship between the self and environment and how these two seemingly distinct entities are inextricably linked. Through the documentation of exchanges, I explore the idea of phenomenology as a departure point for constructing intimate moments with nature, objects, spaces, the self, and others. I look to assign a permanence to complex, striking, and inarticulable moments of clarity, present details of life in general as glimmers of hope and understanding, and explore the prism of self-identity through painting.