Artist Alexis Rockman has always been inspired by the natural world: growing up in New York City, he explored Central Park, frequented the Museum of Natural History, and drew and painted animals and their environments. That passion led Rockman to become a professional artist, focusing on the intersection between humans and the natural world in his large-scale paintings, drawings, and watercolors. Trillium comes from Rockman’s Great Lakes Cycle, an ambitious, multi-year series of work inspired by deep research into the life and history of the Great Lakes.

Rockman’s treatment of the trillium flower, a plant native to the Great Lakes region, comes from his intensive process of making field drawings using watercolor. He has compared his in-depth artistic process to that of a reporter: “I start like a journalist. I ask questions, and I figure out what is the interesting thing going on. Then I find out who knows about it, and then I try to talk to them. Before I begin, I’ll go out to see things firsthand. I never start off with an idea of what I want it to look like.”
(Chad Alligood)