Part of a group of works on paper modeled after botanical illustrations, Acanthus (2021) depicts a plant of the same name. These illustrations are outlined in pencil, then painted blue, a predominant color in many of Brey’s recent works. Much of Brey’s current work has been created, in part, as a means of processing the immense horror he felt when he returned to his native Cuba after more than twenty years in exile to discover wide-spread deforestation. His feelings of grief and loss are visible in works like Acanthus, where botanical illustrations are largely colored using blue gouache to create a vivid watercolor effect, leaving parts of the plant’s penciled silhouette unpainted. By contrasting the somber shades of blue against the unpainted sections, Brey creates a striking, almost ghostly effect, a visualization of the artist’s personal concerns about humankind’s harmful relationship with the environment and the frightening loss that can come from it. Nevertheless, Brey sees nature as a symbol of hope for the future, maintaining that “Nature, and life in general, is quite resilient. No matter how hard you try, a weed will always come back—it is their essence to hold their ground, to stand up, to survive.”