Commission for Derago. His home world is a partially gaseous planet in which land masses float in the sky, so I tried to imagine a kind of plant that might grow on the edge of floating land and take advantage of the strong air currents to disperse its seeds. It’s a very slow growth plant with no leaves which performs photosynthesis on its surface and also dissolves rocks to extract mineral nourishment from them much like rock lichens. The feathered, sticky seeds burst from fruit-like growths on its smaller branches. And clearly it’s sturdy enough to be used as a support for walking and jumping.

Oil painting on canvas, 30x40 cm