This painting fuses the artist’s memories of the luminous landscape of Exmoor, her mother, and the exotic India of her travels. In 1963 Ross moved to Exmoor aged just 4 years old and at aged 20 she had the opportunity to live in India for a year, returning again when 30. Here the pink petals reference Indian shrines and the ritual of a ceremony while the stag is a symbol of Exmoor’s national park, the landscape of her childhood. For Ross, the young girl represents memory, wearing a pink flower on her back. She is transcendent, in some kind of trance, looking on a life, and an encounter with the stag within this magical garden in the lingering light.