Reflection

Old Growth was inspired by the history of ancient trees and forests, through a cultural and scientific lens. The piece was created for an outdoor exhibition called InLight, an international exhibition by Gallery 1708. Our group were the first ever independent high-schoolers to participate. For this piece we chose resin mainly for the clear yet solid effect. It turns out resin is more complicated than I thought, and my partner Ethan spent months molding it. To complete the piece, light and audio of wood chopping was added, providing an eerie, ghost-like experience. The result was worth it, something very challenging to pull off but beautiful nonetheless. Using a mindset of curiosity towards generational connections to nature, my work became inspired by Virginia and Appalachia. I spent time in Appalachia while working on a state park, and was very surprised to find that it held some of the oldest forests in the state, many of which are gone. What I discovered is both damage to our ecosystems and history after losing these areas. For example, the exhibition site—Pine camp in Richmond— is a large public space full of pine trees but also a historically segregated tuberculosis hospital. The trees were seen as beneficial, and adapted a historical role even today. My message to viewers of Old Growth is this: Bringing awareness to other aspects of environmental conservation, including cultural and historical, strengthens connections between people and nature. The stump forges a connection between our environments and found history, glowing in the night like a ghost of trees long gone. Old Growth aims to advocate for the future protection of forests and the memories they hold, so we may conserve generational culture and history.