ARTIST STATEMENT FOREST PRAYER FLAGS is an ongoing project that investigates grief, beauty, and interconnection; shares images and science; invokes the sacred; bears witness; and invites action. The project began in early 2020, during pandemic isolation, when I felt moved to respond to the overwhelming uncertainty and sadness of our Anthropocene era, and to participate in the worldwide EXTRACTION art movement. To address mounting despair over widespread denial of science, racial/social/sexual inequities, gun violence, fake news, frightening politics, worldwide habitat destruction and species extinction, catastrophic wildfire, and climate change, I decided to investigate what was personal and doable for me. While my art practice has embraced biophilic experiences in forests throughout my life, I would now turn my gaze towards solastalgia—the heartache of the environmental damage and habitat loss that I witness personally—through an art process. I designed a lightweight folding easel that fits into a pack for the project, allowing me to work in a tall scroll-like format in remote places. I use black and white ink and paint, found wildfire charcoal, and tree sap on Japanese kozo paper. To weave contemporary forest science into my work, I interview scientists about topics including climate change, tree mortality, fungal networks, catastrophic megafires, and the future of Western forests. When I enter a forest, I express gratitude, envision my energies and those of the forest entwining within my work, and invoke hope that what I do is towards the protection of all forest beings. While painting, I consider illumination and shadow, black and white, growth and destruction, death and life, interconnection and separateness, past and future. I invite the full spectrum of emotions to arise, gazing steadfastly into sadness and reveling in delight. I pause regularly to take in the beauty, the horror, and the mystery. I often cry. Burned and green forests where I have painted include the Alder Creek Grove/2020 SQF Complex/Castle Fire in Sequoia National Forest; the Nelder Grove/2017 Railroad Fire in Sierra National Forest; the Mariposa, Tuolumne, and Merced Groves of Yosemite National Park; Giant Forest, Redwood Meadow, Grant Grove, and high elevation backcountry forests in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, forests in Inyo and Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forests; the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex Fire in the Santa Cruz mountains; and the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest and the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire in Oregon’s McKenzie River Valley. Paradoxically, the more I allow grief and despair into my being, the more I experience hope and find energy to take action. Best of all, sharing this project seems to empower others, too.

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