Rebecca Haseltine 03/20/16
These images show a sequence of steps that are mostly invisible in the final pieces.
This project grew out of grief. There were dozens of wildfires burning up and down California last summer (2015) during our fourth year of drought. A 150,000 acre fire burned in the Kings Canyon area, destroying some of the most beautiful wilderness in the state.
I chose photographs I had taken of bleached cedar roots – from trees killed not by fire but by logging – and the images looked like bones to me – tree bones. Then I made drawings from the photographs.
Even though I focused on the shape of the roots, these pencil sketches started to look like anatomical drawings, so then I added somatic drawing.
Then I poured ink on top of the drawings, and this ended up looking like fire, accidentally but appropriately. It also looked like a lot of other things.
During this process I wasn’t going for an image, just layering wet ingredients on top of dry to see what would show through. When the pieces are backlit, especially hung in front of a window, you can see the ‘bones and sinews’ showing through.
Last two photos by Judy Reed Photography
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