The long-standing Aristotle-inspired chemistry had it that that the four basic (sublunar) elements were a.) EARTH, b.) AIR, c.) FIRE, and d.) WATER. Likewise, the Chinese tradition had it that the basic elements were five: a.) WOOD, b.) FIRE, c.) EARTH, d.) METAL and e.) WATER. In the world of Susa Templin’s work, on the other hand, one could say that the fundamental elements are instead the following: a.) WATER, b.) TREES, and c.) ARCHITECTURE (buildings, rooms, windows…). She finds many ways and ratios in which to recombine these basic elements, and the results of her alchemy are wondrous: the walls around parking lots become panes in an aquarium; buildings multiply and cross-breed; windows open onto fields of vertical water; and apartment blocks retain their prismatic geometry, it seems, only by being turned inside out. What’s truly surprising is how convincing the odd elemental weddings she brings about are. A bizarre combination announces its artificiality: a paper clip holds a city skyline to a blue field of water, the white edges around the clipping still showing, but—oddly enough—it works: it feels right.