Positioning herself the intersection of fantasy and reality, Sonja Braas constructs and photographs dioramas of ravished and catastrophe-stricken landscapes. The Quiet of Dissolution, Firestorm is from a series of images that depict natural and manmade disasters, including floods, fires, snowstorms, landslides, and oil spills. To create this nocturnal view of the city of Los Angeles consumed by flames, the artist photographed a strategically lit maquette that she later destroyed. Like other works from this series, The Quiet of Dissolution, Firestorm challenges our notions of reality through a fabricated image of horrific beauty.

Label from DECADE: Contemporary Collecting 2002–2012, August 21, 2012–January 6, 2013