BARK BEETLES & FIRE PROJECT
For the past five years, I’ve been working in the Rocky Mountains, specifically in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest, developing a body of work that explores the complex, destabilized relationship between high alpine conifers, bark beetles, and wildfires. This project will debut at the University of Michigan in the fall of 2025.
The work is deeply personal to me – I’ve spent a significant portion of my life in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains, where I’ve witnessed firsthand the staggering tree mortality.
Each region of the American West faces its own set of ecological pressures – different bark beetle species, conifer trees and environmental conditions – and the broader aim of this project is to investigate several of these distinct alpine landscapes. Having completed the first phase in the Rockies, I next plan to focus on the grave challenges facing some of the world’s oldest and largest trees: California’s giant sequoias.
My process has three overlapping phases: research, fieldwork, and studio practice. First, I meet with scientists, forest managers, and park officials to understand the specific ecological conditions of the region. Second, I spend weeks in the field—hiking hundreds of miles, climbing thousands of vertical feet—to document the landscape, photograph impacted areas, and collect materials from the forest. Finally, in my New York studio, I use this data and material to create the artwork.
For my upcoming debut show at University of Michigan, I am highlighting three components of this long-term multimedia project: Beetle Carvings, Fire Watercolors and Sap Paintings.
BEETLE CARVINGS
Bark beetles carve distinctive yet destructive patterns into the phloem of conifer trees. Each of the hundreds of beetle species creates a unique engraved design, known as a gallery, which scientists use to help identify the species.
On my hikes into the high alpine regions, I photograph the beetle-killed landscapes and peel back the crumbling bark to reveal the intricate carvings left behind by these tiny insects. Back in my New York City studio, in collaboration with Laumont Labs, I developed a technique to print the landscape photograph onto a gessoed wood panel. Using woodblock carving tools, I hand carve the beetles’ unique patterns directly into the photograph and wood panel, mimicking the beetle’s destructive artistry.
FIRE WATERCOLORS
The wildfire component of the project involves trekking into the aftermath of mega-fires, such as the Beaver Creek Fire (2013) and the Ross Fork Fire (2022). In these scorched landscapes, I collect chunks of burnt trees and photograph the charred and fallen remains.
Back in my studio, I create detailed paintings of the burnt landscape using a custom medium made from charcoal ground from fire-killed trees, gum arabic, and water. After hours of intricate work on the painting, I douse it with fire-colored watercolors, seemingly reigniting the blaze and engulfing the artwork below.
SAP PAINTINGS
Sap and resin are the lifeblood of conifer trees. Rising temperatures and decreased precipitation compromise the trees’ health, reducing its ability to produce these critical substances in sufficient quantities to fend off beetle infestations. These natural defenses are weakened by the impacts of climate change, leaving the tree vulnerable.
Though the beetle problem is immense, the insect itself is tiny – and paradoxically, rarely seen. I’ve never encountered a bark beetle in the wild, but I wanted it to make an appearance in my project. In keeping with my use of materials sourced from the forest, I collect tree sap and resin and have developed a method to transform these materials into a painting medium. This technique allows me to depict the beetle using the very substance the tree produces to defend itself.
So far, I’ve painted the lifecycle of the Mountain Pine Beetle, and my goal is to create a sap portrait of every beetle species that plagues the forests of the West.
SCIENCE
Both bark beetles and fire are native to western conifer forests, serving as natural agents of management and regeneration. Beetles target stressed trees, culling the old and weak, while fire clears the underbrush and plays a vital role in the lifecycle of many conifer species.
However, climate change and human mismanagement have transformed these once-beneficial forces into agents of destruction. The synergy between beetle infestations and high-intensity wildfires has turned what once fostered renewal into a driver of devastation, resulting in the loss of billions of trees and severely affecting water supplies, soil health, air quality, and biodiversity.
GOALS
My project aims to deepen public understanding of the complex ecological crisis unfolding in the forests of the American West. Through art, I seek to engage both general audiences and those involved in environmental, scientific, and policy conversations—people who may not typically encounter these issues in a visual, emotional, or experiential form.
Drawing on years of personal observation and close engagement with mountain landscapes, I hope to offer a unique perspective on the intertwined impact of bark beetles and wildfires—forces once essential to forest renewal, now reshaped by climate change into agents of large-scale destruction. By revealing both the beauty and the tragedy within these processes, I hope to deepen awareness of forest ecosystems and invite viewers to reflect on the wonder and vulnerability of these vital landscapes.