Passage of Time: The Bridge Between Worlds

Claude Monet’s  Poplars on the Banks of the Epte (1891) is a rhythmic exploration of verticality and reflection, where the trees stretch toward the sky, mirrored by the flowing river below. Monet captured the elegance of nature’s symmetry, the gentle curve of the landscape, and the way light played across the water, turning a simple stand of poplars into an ethereal vision of movement and stillness. 

This digital landscape reimagines that rhythm as something more complex, where nature and architecture merge, and time itself folds into layers. The river still flows, its currents winding beneath familiar clusters of poplars, yet above it, reality bends. A great bridge emerges at the heart of the composition, its stone arch stretching over the scene like a gateway between different realities. Its stairs lead upward, not merely to another side, but to another world, another moment suspended in time. 

Beyond the bridge, a town rises, its buildings blending centuries of architecture—traditional wooden homes nestled against modern facades, a clock tower frozen in time, its hands motionless, as if waiting for something unseen. The mountains in the distance suggest an untouched past, while the intricate bridgework and urban elements speak of progress, of movement forward, of a journey yet unfinished. The sky, reflected in layers, is not a single sky but multiple—clouds swirl in shifting forms, as if mirroring thoughts, memories, and the fluid nature of time itself. 

Encasing the scene is a translucent silhouette, a presence that seems both observer and participant. The curvature of the form, the delicate glow of light at its edges, suggests that what is seen is not just a landscape, but a reflection of something deeper—an internal journey as much as an external one. The bridge, the river, the trees, and the town are not separate—they exist within one another, connected by the quiet pulse of time flowing through them. 

Color plays a crucial role in the emotional resonance of this piece. Monet’s golden greens and soft blues remain, but they are now infused with the cool luminescence of layered transparencies, shifting between the warmth of nostalgia and the quiet mystery of the unknown. The sky and water blend seamlessly, creating a sense of infinite reflection, while the sharp lines of the bridge and buildings contrast with the softness of the river’s natural rhythm. 

As an artist, my intention with this piece was to explore the nature of passage—both physical and temporal. Monet’s poplars stood as sentinels along the river, marking the seasons, the changing light, the impermanence of all things. But what if that impermanence was stretched? What if the river was not just carrying water, but carrying time itself? 

The bridge is not just a structure—it is a threshold, a moment between past and future, between memory and reality. The town beyond it is both old and new, familiar and unknown, just as the face surrounding the composition is both part of the scene and separate from it, as if remembering, as if dreaming. The poplars, standing firm, are the only constants, their reflections unchanged by the movement of history. 

This piece is not just about landscapes, nor just about time—it is about the way both are experienced, about the intersections between places and thoughts, about how stepping onto one bridge can take us not just to another side, but to another version of ourselves. Through this composition, I wanted to evoke the feeling of transition, of standing at the edge of something vast, where the river does not just flow forward, but through time itself.