Uprooted (Longmeadow) #2
Photography
24 x 34 inches
2023

Biologists increasingly argue that trees speak, and have long been trying to reach us, we humans just need to learn to hear their language. Since I moved from Los Angeles to a redwood forest on The Sea Ranch in 2020, I've been compelled to make artworks that make the invisible seen. Shifting from an urban to a rural scene had a great impact in my practice, when I decided to focus on trees, and explore concepts of environmental art.

After two decades of drought, California experienced bomb cyclones and atmospheric rivers in early 2023. This series of color photographs pays homage to fallen trees, and their upended visible roots. Inspired by Goethe’s theory that lightness and darkness create the colors and render the world recognizable, I use the negative image as a conceptual strategy to capture the root’s energy, and unveil the below the surface world invisible to the naked eye.

“Uprooted” evokes an entropic state of being pulled from the ground, suggesting connections between macro and micro, above and below, darkness and light. The massive plant’s root foundation when exposed, reveals a glimpse into the psychic life of an otherwise unseen world, beckoning the viewer to reimagine the reality of climate change and the many events that shape our movements, and the changes in our own lives.

Uprooted (Moonraker) #1
Photography
24 x 34 inches
2023

Uprooted (Timber Ridge) #2
Photography
24 x 34 inches
2023