Norman Regional Vortex

• 36" H x 48" W
• Flash and acrylic on wood panel

Amy Erickson’s Norman Regional Vortex is a luminous, life-size portrait of a tree stump that invites a deeper reflection on our relationship with the natural world. Inspired by a 17th-century cosmograph, this striking work bridges the realms of the physical and the metaphysical—transforming a familiar natural form into a symbol of time, memory, and ecological interconnectedness.

Through vibrant high-chroma hues and richly textured layers, Erickson captures the quiet power of nature’s cycles—the slow, continuous passage of time etched into bark and growth rings. Her unique blend of realism and abstraction evokes a dreamlike tension, drawing viewers into a contemplative space where self and landscape merge.

At once grounded and transcendent, Norman Regional Vortex speaks to themes of resilience and reverence. What might initially appear as a remnant of loss becomes, in Erickson’s hands, a monument to endurance and renewal—an elegant reminder of the life that persists in every fragment of the natural world.