Tall white box diorama: a vast mossy tree in a dark, glittering forest, with a tiny figure asleep at its foot.

Sleeping in the Forest (Mary Oliver)

Lisa Swerling

2026Mixed media diorama37 x 22 x 11cm

“Inspired by the Mary Oliver poem of the same name. I know the liminal feeling she describes, between wakefulness and sleep, a blissful suspension when you’re part of everything and nothing. I get this feeling sometimes when napping in the afternoon, and almost always when camping.”

L.S. 2026

Details

Detail: the tiny sleeping figure on the glittering forest floor beneath the great trunk.
Detail: the vast tree rising above the tiny sleeper.