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

Biologists increasingly argue that trees speak, and have long been trying to reach us, but that we humans just need to learn to hear their language. Since I moved from Los Angeles to a redwood forest on the Sonoma Coast 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, leading me to focus on trees and explore concepts of art and ecology. 

After two decades of drought, California experienced bomb cyclones and atmospheric rivers in early 2023. “Uprooted” (2023) is a series of color photographs made on The Sea Ranch, paying homage to over 500 fallen trees. Inspired by Goethe’s theory that lightness and darkness create the colors and render the world recognizable, I’ve been exploring ways to make visible something that is not seen on the original photograph. I use the negative image as a conceptual strategy to capture the root’s energy, and unveil the below-the-surface world that is invisible to the naked eye. The composition is made on the spot and the photograph is neither cropped or altered. The different shades of blue emerge from light and shadows cast on the trees’ upended roots. 

“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