Exploring the interdependence of human and tree relations, this series of works are rooted in a process of sustained meditative drawing that expresses a desire for reciprocity with the more than human world. The drawings are indexical representations of protective bark tissues of specific tree species: Black Maple, Black Willow, Douglas Fir, Eucalyptus, Giant Sequoia, Mountain Ash, Torrey Pine, White Ash, White Cedar, White Pine, Yucca Palm.

The process involves drawing with coloured pencil onto a transfer surface and then the drawn image is transferred to a secondary paper using hand pressure and direct contact between the two surfaces. This method is a tension between controlled drawing and improvisational rubbing: an exchanging of energy. By transferring an image from one paper to another, the original drawing becomes softened and blurred like memory. The images of bark and the drawing process itself recall associations of an internal and external space: consciousness, breath, body, sensation, history, and place, all points of contact in the exchangement, connection, and vital relationship between trees and humans and our mutual kinship.

Each of the drawings represent a particular place and memory for the artist and each spectral colour suggests a specific sensuous experience of that tree. These are the trees that follow me.

Digital Catalogue