Radiant Roots:

Concept

Atlanta grows upward and inward at once. Radiant Roots maps that dual motion: skyward ambition braided with the living roots beneath the streets. The canvas fractures like stained glass—faces, buildings, and branches interwoven—so the city reads as one body of light.

“Light remembers what stone forgets.”

Composition

The image stacks three currents: a luminous sky plane, the charged street plane, and a subterranean lattice of memory. Figures are not placed on architecture; they become the architecture—shoulders as cornices, hands as bridges, hearts as windows. A warm gold gradient threads across shards, guiding the eye like traffic at dusk on Peachtree.

What draws you first

A central column of light climbs from root to skyline, splitting and rejoining across hexagonal facets. Micro-gestures—two people meeting, another pausing to breathe—anchor the spectacle in human scale.

Palette & energy

Golds and ambers carry warmth; deep charcoals and blue-black tones hold weight. The contrast is intentional: a city that shines and remembers.

Signals & Motifs

Roots

Under-structure lines form a mycelium of stories: rail tunnels, tree veins, old foundations—history as living tissue.

Windows / Eyes

Open panes double as eyes—watching, reflecting, belonging.

Crossing lines

Diagonal “desire paths” hint at how people actually move through Atlanta, not just how maps say they should.

Signals to find

A handshake hidden in a bridge span
A crescent of streetlights forming a halo
A small figure looking back—your anchor in the crowd

Artist’s Note

Painted after six years living on Peachtree, this work opens the city as a shared nervous system—signal, response, recovery. The light is not decoration. It’s the connective tissue.