Natural latex casts made from trees scarred by logging activity.

Two pieces each is approximately 41x17x4”

Building on my investigations of interspecies entanglements, I have created “skins” made from natural latex casts of trees that were scarred by logging equipment over forty years ago. These irregularities (where the trees have been forced to change their growth patterns) document the coercive forces surrounding these organisms and the resilience in their adaptations to the changed environment.  The bark of the trees, much like human skin, is more than a protective surface but also a monument to experiences, heritage and history. The impressions serve as visual metaphors for the damage we endure and inflict (both visible and hidden) and the beauty of resilience.

Scars, visible or not, make us who we are and these nuanced casts reveal decades of ductility as the trees responded to trauma. Our culture often disdains the irregular – the scars and disfigurement that can accompany trauma, age and the passage of time.