Burnishings 2018-Ongoing charcoal on paper, 200+ 11” x 14” drawings, dimensions variable (about 20’ x 9’ in the depicted installation)
Burnishings 2018-Ongoing charcoal on paper, 200+ 11” x 14” drawings, dimensions variable (about 30’ x 11’ in the depicted installation)
Burnishings is a series of drawings made with forest fire burned bark as charcoal. The process involves visiting public lands scarred by fire and collecting small bits of charcoal. As I travel to any public land thereafter, I identify native species of trees and rub the found charcoal across the paper placed up against the tree’s bark. The work is about reciprocity and touch in spaces otherwise driven by narratives of preservation and “leave no trace”. The work seeks intimacy and tangibility with the hopes of fertilizing and caring for native species in these spaces. Dust and bits of charcoal drop to the base of the tree as a sort of good-will offering. As the “public” stewarding these lands, I am curious about individual responsibility within one’s environ and rejecting estranged colonial ideologies.
“Burnishings” describes the process of rubbing and care through contact. Although the series of drawings is ongoing, this current installation includes 126 11”x14” drawings from the collection. The arrangement is based on a geographical mapping of the trees from West to East.
