Giant Flower Blooms from Paint Chip Tray in Natal Store

Dust motes drift through shafts of bright midday light filtering through sheer curtains, illuminating a small plastic paint-chip return tray resting on a service desk. The tray holds rows of rectangular color swatches in muted earth tones. From the center of this ordinary retail object, a single flower erupts, growing straight upward until its bloom towers above the desk, reaching the height of a tree. The flower’s petals are detailed and vibrant against the orderly backdrop of the store. The impossible scale of the bloom contrasts with the mundane plastic texture of the tray, while the dry season air remains still. A thin shadow of the flower’s stem falls across the nearest paint chip, at the base of the surreal growth in the physical space.