The Touch That Remains
A breeze moved through the canopy—soft, unhurried. The stone still held warmth, though the sun had already gone.
I stood before a bare wall in the courtyard of Angkor Wat’s second floor—unfinished, flat, waiting. From that silence, two figures had risen. Devatas nearly identical, their shoulders tilted slightly toward one another. Each held a lotus blossom. One reached across to rest her hand upon the other’s shoulder—a gesture so precise, so intimate, I could not tell if it had just occurred or had never ceased.
Their gaze was not outward, but inward. They did not watch. They remembered.
The exposure was long, but not longer than the silence. In the studio, I shaped the print slowly—my own ritual of return. Hand-toning it in gold was not an embellishment, but an act of listening. A way of giving light back to those who had given it away.
They were not made to glow.
They were made to keep.
they were not carved—
they arrived
in the silence the wall had kept
they did not shine
but remembered the sun
that loved them
one touch held both
offering and return
in the same breath
and what they gave
is still
being given
Also in My Journal
A Scroll Carried by Wind
Zhou Daguan came to Angkor to observe—but found a kingdom that defied explanation. This introductory scroll welcomes new readers into The Wind That Carried Me to Zhenla: a poetic resurrection of the 13th-century emissary’s journey, revoiced with reverence, wonder, and the hush of temple stone.
The Goddess of the Golden Tower
There is a tower the moon remembers—where a king once climbed in silence, and a goddess wove humility into gold. Though the spire has faded, her presence lingers in the hush between breath and stone, waiting for the next soul who dares to kneel before the unseen.
Phimeanakas and the Goddess of Sovereignty
Within the Royal Enclosure of Angkor Thom stands Phimeanakas—the Celestial Palace. More than a monument, it is a myth made stone: where kings bowed to the goddess of the land, and sovereignty meant surrender. A contemplative meditation on sacred architecture, divine right, and the quiet power that still lives between the stones.
$250
Angkor Wat Temple, Angkor, Cambodia — 2020
Limited Edition Archival Pigment Print
Edition
Strictly limited to 25 prints + 2 Artist’s Proofs
Medium
Hand-toned black-and-white archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Bamboo — a museum-grade fine art paper chosen for its quiet tactility and reverent depth, echoing the spirit of the temples.
Signature & Numbering
Each print is individually signed and numbered by the artist on the border (recto)
Certificate of Authenticity
Accompanies every print
Image Size
9.5 x 6.8 inches (24.1 x 17.3 cm)
At the threshold where light becomes memory, two devatas emerge from stone—graceful, entwined, and radiant in their stillness. This is not a moment captured, but one consecrated.
Carved high upon the unfinished sandstone of Angkor Wat’s second-level courtyard, the figures appear almost identical—twin sisters or mirrored selves—each lifting a lotus blossom in quiet offering. One reaches across to rest her hand upon the other’s shoulder, their embrace suspended in golden silence. The air was thick with the hush of evening, as if the day itself were bowing.
Lucas Varro waited for the light to find them. Using large-format black-and-white film, he made this image beneath the sun’s last breath. In the studio, the negative was shaped through chiaroscuro and hand-toned in gold—an act of reverence, not effect. Each print is unique, bearing the subtle fire of what the stone once held.
This museum-grade archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Bamboo paper is offered in a strictly Limited Edition of 25 + 2 AP.
No two impressions are alike. Each carries the light that stayed.
Click here to walk deeper into the artist’s journal—where silence remembers the offering.
