Beetle Kill: Symptom or Disease?

2023

Commissioned by: The University of Colorado Boulder’s CASE (Colorado Art Science Environment) Fellowship

Indicator #1, #2, #3 (2023)
Reclaimed walnut floor, beetle kill pine, and expired land polaroids
16” x 16” each

Indicator #1
(2023)
Reclaimed walnut floor, beetle kill pine, and expired land polaroids
16” x 16”

Expired land polaroid of beetle infested forest in Indicator #1 (2023)

Indicator #2
(2023)
Reclaimed walnut floor, beetle kill pine, and expired land polaroid
16” x 16”

Indicator #2, detail
(2023)
Reclaimed walnut floor, beetle kill pine, and expired land polaroid
16” x 16”

Indicator #3
(2023)
Reclaimed walnut floor, beetle kill pine, and expired land polaroids
16” x 16”

Fade
42” x 30”
Expired Land Polaroids, Walnut, Oak, and Beetle Kill Pine
2023

This artwork depicts the impact of Spruce Beetles on Monarch Pass, where 90% of Engelmann Spruce trees have been killed.

The title, Fade, is in reference to the the term used by forest scientists to indicate the fading of color from the tree’s needles due to beetle activity. Over the course of two years, as the beetles mature from larvae to adult, the tree slowly fades from a dark green to light grey. During aerial surveys, the amount of “fading” is an indicator of infestation.

Detail view of beetle kill pine in Fade (2023)

The frames incorporate wood from a variety of tree species—walnut, oak, and beetle-kill pine—to underscore that this story is not just about the spruce tree. Many of the same underlying conditions of climate change are threatening trees across the country in unique but interconnected ways. Spruce beetle kill is just one example of many.

Expired land polaroid of beetle infested forests in Fade (2023)

The pieces utilizes expired land polaroids, which, due to chemical instability, only develop images 10% of the time. This mirrors the experience of being on Monarch Pass today, where only 10% of the spruce trees remain, creating a visual parallel to the landscape’s transformation.

Expired land polaroid of beetle infested forests.

Detail view of woodwork in Fade (2023)

To see and learn more: www.casefellows.buffscreate.net

Exhibitions:

UnBound13!, Candela Gallery, Richmond, VA, July 2024

Center for Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO, April 2024-February 2025

Blo Back Gallery, Pueblo Colorado, May 1 – June 1, 2024

Colorado Create Industries Annual Summit, Pueblo, CO May 8, 2024

Sustainability, Energy and Environment Community (SEEC) Building, CU Boulder, January 2024 – March 2024

Mountain Arts Summit, Center for the Arts, Crested Butte, CO, June 1 - July 5th, 2024

Breck Create, Old Masonic Hall, Breckenridge, CO, December 9, 2023 – January 7, 2024

Mesa County Libraries, Grand Junction Central Library and the Clifton and Fruita Branch Libraries, January 19, 2023 – March 14, 2024

Colorado State Capitol, Capitol Rotunda and Legislative Offices, Denver, CO, May 19 – Nov 24, 2023