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@dancinglmnts

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Artist • Designer • Observer
→ Founder, Dancing Elements
M.F.A Graphic Design
Los Angeles, CA

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Reflections on Becoming | 02: The Dragon in the Sky

What happens when we begin to see beyond what is visible?

While looking up at the sky in Ojai, I saw a dragon taking shape among the clouds.

For me, dragons have become symbols of transformation, courage, ancient wisdom, and the energy of becoming.

I have been learning to connect with this energy, allowing it to guide me through a period of personal and creative transformation.

This encounter reminded me of the relationship between imagination and perception.

How the same sky can hold different stories depending on who is looking.

As a designer, I am fascinated by these moments when organic forms become symbols, when observation awakens intuition, and when the natural world becomes part of our visual language.

Perhaps becoming also means learning to trust what we see, what we feel, and what speaks to us beyond words.

What do you see in the clouds? 🐉

Photo note: This is an original photograph I captured with my phone. I simply removed the surrounding clouds to make the dragon formation more visible. by @dancinglmnts

• Reflections on Becoming | 01: The Portal

What if the natural world holds portals waiting to be encountered?

While wandering through Ojai, I encountered this opening between two trees. Something about its shape felt like an invitation.

A passage between the visible and the unseen.

I have always been drawn to the possibility that certain places hold an energy capable of transporting us beyond the physical, into another dimension of awareness.

As a designer, these encounters become part of my creative language. A shape becomes a symbol. A texture becomes a story. An observation becomes the beginning of something not yet imagined.

Perhaps regenerative creativity begins with curiosity, with allowing ourselves to experience the living world beyond what is immediately visible.

Where would this portal take you? 🌿 by @dancinglmnts

What if becoming is a form of regeneration?

Like the changing seasons, we are constantly shedding, transforming, and beginning again.

Here in Ojai, surrounded by nature and community, I am exploring what it means to channel the energy of the dragon, to honor the cycles of the moon, and to create from a place of deeper connection.

Perhaps creativity begins long before we make anything.

Perhaps it begins with what we allow to transform within us.

🐉🌿🌙 by @dancinglmnts

What if movement could draw?

A body passes through space, briefly changing the composition before moving somewhere else.

I am curious about the invisible lines created by movement. A path that could become a gesture, a letterform, a line, or the beginning of a visual system.

What would happen if we designed from the trace of movement rather than the object itself? by @dancinglmnts

What would creativity become if we stopped treating design as the production of finished objects and started treating it as participation in systems that continue changing? by @dancinglmnts

What are we really seeing when we look up?

A cloud, light, shadow, or a shape waiting to become something else?

I am interested in the forms that appear around us temporarily, especially the ones we might miss if we are not paying attention. Looking closely can become part of the design process.

This shape could become an element within a composition. The photograph itself could become a texture or background. Or perhaps it simply becomes the beginning of another idea.

Nature is constantly composing.

What changes when we begin to observe the world as designers? by @dancinglmnts

Can an image disturb the body’s sense of orientation?

A wave turned sideways.
A familiar movement made unfamiliar.

I am interested in what happens when nature is shifted just enough to interrupt recognition and sensation takes over.

What did you feel before you understood what you were seeing? #dancinglmnts by @dancinglmnts

Today, a hummingbird came close and stayed, drinking quietly beside me.

And then, as if offering me a little gift, it fluttered its wings for a while as it drank.

A small, beautiful reminder of the magic that surrounds us when we pause long enough to notice.

A quiet blessing from the dancing elements all around us #dancinglmnts #thedancinglmntsofmylife by @dancinglmnts

The WILD within you is FIRE.

What does the FIRE element teach us about design?

To me, being WILD is a form of detachment from the norm. It is the willingness to step away from expectations, conventions, and the quiet pressure to become who the world expects you to be, so you can remember who you truly are.

Recently, I’ve become aware of the FIRE within me.

Not a FIRE of destruction, but of transformation. The kind that burns away what no longer belongs, illuminates what matters, and creates space for something more authentic to emerge.

At Dancing Elements, we see FIRE as a teacher. It reminds us that transformation is never the end of the story. It is the beginning of a new ecosystem. FIRE transforms low-density energies into creative potential, making space for new life, new ideas, and new ways of seeing.

The most meaningful DESIGN doesn’t simply decorate the world. It awakens it. It challenges convention. It reveals new possibilities.

Perhaps being WILD is simply having the courage to detach from the norm and create from your truest nature.

🔥

#DancingElements #DesignPhilosophy #RegenerativeCreativity #BiophilicDesign #CreativeProcess by @dancinglmnts

A LACMA workday through the eyes of a graphic designer.

What can be possible with these angles?… (Photo 1: David Geffen Galleries)

These textures?… (Photo 2: Coconut Cloud smoothie from Erewhon)

These shapes and compositions?… (Photo 3: Palm trees at the Japanese Pavilion)

These movements and sounds?… (Video: people dancing during Latin Sounds)

Design inspiration has a way of showing up in the most unexpected moments. by @dancinglmnts

The ways we see the world… @lacma by @dancinglmnts

In one of my elements… the art historian in me was in awe today, and the Colombian in me felt so proud. #historicalmomentforme #davidgeffengalleries by @dancinglmnts