Mashanda Lazarus is a Los Angeles-based artist. For their Sketchbook series, Lazarus turned their eye to organic material. “I chose flowers and mosses of significance to base these textile sculptures on, prioritizing the materials, process, and intent over the aesthetic outcome,” they tell Zócalo.

Take a close look at each object: What might appear to be leaves reveal themselves to be silk and velvet; stalks and grasses are rendered from cotton and corduroy. “I used vintage fabric samples, scraps from altered pants, and other materials I had been hoarding,” Lazarus explains. “The red flowers are from ‘An Intimate Evening with Pamela Des Barres,’ the pink flower is from my late great grandmother’s rose bush, and the mosses are inspired by those I met in Eugene, Oregon, on a recent family road trip.”