Tree Talk: Artists Speak For Trees
Thursday, March 25
10am PT, 11am MT, 12pm CT, 1pm ET
EUROPE: Scotland/Ireland/England: 18:00 GMT, Belgium/Germany/Spain: 19:00 UTC
David Paul Bayles, Jennifer Hand, Cynthia Hooper, Cindy Rinne
Guest Geologist: Frederick J. Swanson
The beauty and mystery of trees has long been a subject for artists, and more recently, concern for the survival of forests (the lungs of our planet) has been paramount. Each month, artists working in a diversity of media share their artworks and ideas about these most essential and extraordinary living beings. Additionally, guest speakers including scientists, writers and activists are invited to present their work and contribute to the dialogue.
Tree Talk is moderated by Sant Khalsa, ecofeminist artist and activist, whose work has focused on critical environmental and societal issues including forests and watersheds for four decades.
Co-sponsored by Joshua Tree Center for Photographic Arts
Members and one guest are free. General Public can attend for a $10. Capacity is 100 participants. All participants MUST REGISTER.
Guest Presenter:
Frederick J. Swanson will describe the Long-Term Ecological Reflections program associated with the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest (Oregon) in which this art-science project in the McKenzie River fire zone is situated. Artist-photographer David Paul Bayles brings attention to form and color and scientist Frederick J. Swanson brings a focus on forest history and physical-ecological processes in this blackened, skeletal forest, where the fire laid bare details of a landscape typically obscured by the clutter of foliage.
Frederick J. Swanson is a retired research geologist with the US Forest Service, who studies forest and stream ecosystems affected by disturbances – logging, floods, volcanic eruptions, wildfire. Since 2000, he has facilitated engagement of writers and artists in the landscapes of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens and ancient forest of the Andrews Experimental Forest as part of the Long-Term Ecological Reflections program, based in the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word. ecologicalreflections
Member Presenters:
David Paul Bayles will present his current collaborative project with disturbance ecologist Frederick J Swanson. The Holiday Farm Fire along the McKenzie River in Oregon burned 170,000 acres last fall. Their art-science project is made up of three main components. The first involves 41 exact ʻPhoto Pointsʻ to be photographed monthly. Bayles will share eight typologies visually and biologically unique to a burned forest, and a portrait series of burned trees titled Standing, Still.
Bayles photographs landscapes where the needs of forests and human pursuits often collide, sometimes coexist and occasionally find harmony. Selected publications include Orion, Nature, Audubon, Outside, L.A. Times, and Terrain. Selected public collections include Portland Art Museum, Santa Barbara Art Museum, Harry Ransom Center, Bibliotheque Nationale and Wildling Museum. The David Paul Bayles Photographic Archive was created in 2016 at The Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley to archive his entire life’s work. davidpaulbayles.com
Image: ©David Paul Bayles, Untitled, 1-16-2021, archival pigment print, 18 x 12, 24 x 16, 30 x 20 inches, each size edition of 7
Jennifer Hand will tell the story of how her relationship with the trees on her own property has informed and shaped her work. She will share some of her recent projects including a documented performance in the woods, an ongoing community/social media project called “Leaf Notes”, and mixed media pieces evoking a spirit of collaboration and mutual care through the combination of tree leaves, drawing, donated used and worn clothing, and the process of sewing.
Hand lives in Virginia in a small house in the woods with her husband and dog. She teaches for the School of Visual Arts at Virginia Tech. Since receiving an MFA in painting in 1995, she has shown her work regionally, nationally and internationally, in over 30 solo or collaborative exhibitions and over 60 juried or group exhibitions. In addition to her solo work, Hand also occasionally works collaboratively with her artist father, Charlie Brouwer. jenniferhand.com
Image: ©Jennifer Hand, Garment for Remembering the Earth, still from the video documented performance, garment made from oak leaves, beeswax, fabric, dye and thread
Cynthia Hooper is an interdisciplinary artist who will present an overview of Northwestern California’s forest land and timber industry in relation to her research-based practice. Hooper has lived in rural Humboldt County for 30 years, and has documented its timber industry with paintings, videos, and essays. Economic exploitation has long impacted forest biota in ways both predictable and unexpected, and species perseverance (both human and non-human) in this complex environment is alternately granular and global in scope.
Hooper examines infrastructural landscapes in the United States and Mexico. Exhibitions and screenings include the Center for Land Use Interpretation in Los Angeles, the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, Centro Cultural Tijuana, Santa Fe Art Institute, and MASS MoCA. Grants and residencies include the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and Headlands Center for the Arts. Publications include Places Journal and Arid: A Journal of Desert Art, Design and Ecology. cynthiahooper.com
Image: ©Cynthia Hooper, A Negotiable Utopia: The Humboldt Bay Project (Natural Resources), 2014, digital video with sound (still image)
Cindy Rinne speaks to trees and they answer in visions, poems, and artworks. She recycles scraps and heirloom treasures—Nigerian lace, brocade, doilies, organza and more in her fiber art to tell ancient/modern stories. Rinne’s art and poetry reflect the intersection of humans and trees in destruction and awe. Trees appear as witness, act as a container for visitation, or disappear in the cycle of life and death. Meet crone, goddess, magnolia, and larch.
Rinne creates fiber art and poetry in San Bernardino, CA. Her artworks have been exhibited at LAAA/825, Los Angeles; the Lancaster Museum of Art and History; RAFFMA, Cal State San Bernardino; and the Torrance Art Museum. She is represented by Desert Peach Gallery in Yucca Valley, CA. She has published over 10 poetry books, is a Represented Poet by Lark Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Her poetry has appeared in several literary journals and anthologies. fiberverse.com
Image: ©Cindy Rinne, Lady of the Forest, 2008, tapestry, 32 x 40 inches, 36 x 40 inches
