Witnessing the Silence: A Return to the Dixie Fire Scar

The Narrative: In the summer of 2021, the Dixie Fire transformed nearly a million acres of Northern California into a landscape of ash and bone. Returning to the site a year later, I found myself less interested in the wide-scale devastation and more drawn to the individual stories remaining in the soil.

The Process:

• Formal Isolation: By adopting the formal rigor of portraiture, I chose to isolate these fire-scarred trees against a seamless white field.

• The “Shock of Absence”: Stripping away the forest floor forces a direct encounter with the forensic textures of charred wood and the singular dignity of these “witnesses”.

• The Medium: To honor the tactile intensity of these forms, I have selected Hahnemühle German Etching paper for this collection. Its painterly depth captures the rich, charcoal patina in a way that feels permanent and monumental.