North America 45n 120w

Creative Rationale

Over the mountainous Pacific Northwest near the Oregon-Washington border, where the Cascade Range meets high desert terrain, the atmospheric conditions reveal a story of cold, humid air moving steadily from the northwest. The extremely low temperature of 2.9 K with high humidity of 77% but no precipitation suggests a stable but frigid air mass, while the moderate 5.2 m/s wind from 300 degrees creates consistent atmospheric motion. This translates into Riley's signature undulating patterns flowing diagonally across the canvas, with the cold temperature driving a stark black-and-white palette reminiscent of her early 1960s optical works, while the moderate wind speed creates medium-frequency wave patterns that pulse with calculated precision.