ARTIST STATEMENT:
TREES: SKIN DEEP

My shooting is part of a practice that helps me attune to what’s important in the moment. When I look at the world through the camera lens, I attempt to extract small moments that reflect what it means to be alive. I do that by framing something I might not otherwise look at, something that gains in importance as it is brought separately to my attention.

Lately, that’s been the bark of trees as I walk through the nearby Arnold Arboretum. I am absorbed by something as commonplace as the bark of trees and it brings me back to the immense and inexplicable explosion of diversity surrounding me. These familiar objects contain far more color or texture than I ever imagined.

More than in most of my other work, I am open to manipulating the raw file to accentuate the textures and colors I find lurking there. I love finding landscapes or contour maps in the bark, hidden yet visible if I look closely. I see abstractions of color and texture, line and shape. Looking closely reveals worlds initially invisible, worlds that come out to play the longer I look.