Baroque Medusa

Vajine Springs: Creating a Surreal Desert Landscape from Original Photography

My creativity for the last few month has been living almost entirely in words.

Between writing, editing manuscripts for Baroque Medusa Media, preparing my writing workshop, and teaching, it had been a while since I’d simply created art. Photographic manipulation has always been another creative outlet for me, and I was able to finally create my next piece for Abstract Distortions.

That desire became Vajine Springs. It became an imagined place built from pieces of the Coachella Valley—and a piece of myself.

Vajine Springs by Baroque Medusa, a surreal digital landscape featuring flowing desert-like terrain created from transformed photographic source material, with silhouetted palm trees and softened contrails inspired by the Coachella Valley.
Vajine Springs transforms original photographs into a surreal desert landscape where personal anatomy, neighborhood palm trees, and Coachella Valley skies dissolve into a single imagined place. Part of the Abstract Distortions series by Baroque Medusa.

From Sky Valley to Vajine Springs

This digital illustration began with three original photographs.

Two were photographs I captured here in Sky Valley (Coachella Valley): silhouetted neighborhood palm trees and another image featuring towering palms beneath intersecting chem-trails stretching across the evening sky.

Three towering palm trees beneath intersecting contrails in the evening sky at Sky Valley Resort in the Coachella Valley. Original source photograph by Baroque Medusa used in the creation of Vajine Springs.
One of three original photographs used to create Vajine Springs. Captured in Sky Valley Resort, Coachella Valley, featuring towering palm trees and intersecting contrails before their transformation into the final digital illustration.

Those photographs became the foundation of the composition. I extracted the palms from their original surroundings, softened the chem-trails until they nearly disappeared into the atmosphere, allowing those familiar desert elements to become quiet landmarks within an imagined landscape.

Silhouetted palm trees against glowing orange sunset clouds and a deep blue evening sky in the Coachella Valley. Original source photograph by Baroque Medusa used in the creation of Vajine Springs.
One of the original photographs captured in Sky Valley Resort, Coachella Valley. The silhouetted palms and dramatic desert sunset became visual inspiration and source material during the creation of Vajine Springs.

Transforming the Landscape

The third photograph was far more personal.

It was a photograph of my own vulva.

Rather than presenting the image literally, I digitally transformed it into a flowing, liquid-like landscape. I warped, stretched, and sculpted the photograph until it resembled molten desert sand, allowing its original form to dissolve into something entirely new. The warm palette naturally followed the bronzed tones of my own skin, echoing the colors of the surrounding Coachella Valley landscape.

As the terrain began to emerge, I layered in my palm tree photographs, softened the chem-trails until they nearly disappeared into the sky, and allowed the composition to settle into a place that felt both familiar and surreal. The result became a landscape. It also became a self-portrait.

Not in the traditional sense, but in the realization that our bodies can become geography, memory, texture, and lanscape.

The title, Vajine Springs, is intentionally playful. A nod to Palm Springs while embracing the deeply personal source material that inspired the piece. It’s a reminder that landscapes don’t always begin with mountains, oceans, or deserts.

Sometimes they begin with ourselves. Sometimes they begin much closer to home.

While creating this piece, I realized it was time for full disclosure. Vajine Springs isn’t the first artwork created from a photograph of my vulva. It’s my fifth. I’m only now comfortable saying that publicly.

For me, the vulva is the feminine divine. It holds energy, power, love, intuition.

Artwork Details

Artist: Baroque Medusa
Title: Vajine Springs
Series: Abstract Distortions
Medium: Digital illustration created from original photography using photographic manipulation.
Orientation: Landscape
Year: 2026

Original source photographs:

  • Palm trees photographed in Sky Valley, Coachella Valley
  • Palm trees and intersecting chem-trails photographed in Sky Valley, Coachella Valley
  • Self-portrait photograph digitally transformed into the desert landscape.

Available as:

  • Digital download
  • Landscape printable wall art
  • Sizes: 20×16, 24×20, 30×24
Canvas mockup of Vajine Springs by Baroque Medusa displayed on a modern white gallery wall. The abstract digital artwork features desert-inspired tones, palm trees, and surreal photographic distortion.
Vajine Springs displayed as a museum-quality canvas print. A surreal desert composition from the Abstract Distortions series by Baroque Medusa.

Vajine Springs is available as a canvas print through my Etsy shop.

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