On a trip to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula I snorkeled through an underwater garden of corals and sea fans under blue skies. Days later, a storm blew in with strong winds and rain. Snorkeling in these choppy waters I saw these same sea fans undulating dramatically with the waves. These fragile structures were stronger and more flexible than they appeared.

Walking along the beach the next day, I found a sea fan washed up on the sand. What had been swaying under the water had hardened, its delicate, branching pattern brittle outside its natural environment.

Soft Coral was created in 2012 for the Bellevue Arts Museum. It will be on display there through December 2013.