Bark Beetles

As a child, I was fascinated by the intricate carvings I found on split-rail fences, but had no idea what caused them. I would run my finger over them and do rubbings, thinking of them as an alien language that I couldn’t read. Little did I know that they were a sign of destruction that could reshape the entire landscape of the west. 

The Western Pine Beetle, having gained enough time from climate change to have an extra breeding cycle, have decimated ⅕ of Colorado’s forests already. While there are many causes of the wildfires that have plagued the west in recent years, dry tinder from dead and dying trees has certainly provided ample fuel for them to rage more furiously than ever before. The pine beetles burrow in through a hole and lay their eggs, and the larvae eat the wood as they grow, eventually exiting, breeding, and starting the cycle all over again. In response, the tree creates pitch, a sticky, sap-like substance to repel them, which hardens into a resin-like layer under the bark. As we hike through the forest, we have no idea the violent battles taking place around us, hidden beneath the bark.

Inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi, which repairs cracked china with gold to highlight the beauty in the brokenness, I started working with the surfaces underneath the bark of these dead pines, filling them with encaustic paint in a reparative act. By scraping away the wax, the surface becomes smooth again as it once was underneath the bark, but with the story of the tree’s death highlighted and honored. 

I’m still fascinated with these oddly beautiful engravings underneath the bark, but now I can read the messages: change now, for your future is tied to these forests.