Understory

2020-2022 (ongoing)
24" x96"
gouache, charcoal, india ink, and graphite on paper; installed in a forest
Documented with photography and video

The series, understory, explores my psychosomatic experience of grief as manifested through trees. My healing begins with discovering internal landscapes revealed in waterways and the woods as the earth embodies experience. The drawings examine how the weight of a dead tree forever alters the growth of the living tree it touches.

Each study offers a different reflection on the grieving process as the most resonant arrangements change from crushing weight to gentle embrace. Depicted in gold, the dead tree is barely visible as its branches weave throughout its host, evoking grief's invisible nature, especially in Western society. Installed adjacent to its subject, the body-scale drawing flutters in the breeze along with the leaves of the surrounding forest, channeling the healing tranquility of the woods.