Four pages of thick oak, bound with laminated suede straps across the spine, with recesses carrying text panels and a variety of forest specimens cast in epoxy resin.

This book is a visual journal of sorts; a collection of various specimens found during a series of hikes through an incredibly quiet section of the Pacific Northwest. The specimens are accompanied by text describing my train of thought during, and immediately after, one of those hikes.

Materials:

oak, laminated suede, brass, thread, paper, epoxy resin laser foil, oil, wax, mica, plant specimens

Here’s the text:

On this walk,
I replace inattention
with contemplation. I want to believe that contemplating the beauty of this forest will provide me an enduring reserve of strength; that I will discover possibilities of infinite healing.
I’m insignificant.
Nothing in these woods requires nor demands that I pay attention to or contemplate anything here. I leave with specimens, hoping that by keeping physical memories of the day close at hand, I’ll somehow be a better person.
This place is one of
quietude, of stillness,
yet there are energetic
and forceful life
processes, seen and
unseen, moving along
at their own pace, with
all eternity at their
disposal. Building on all that has gone before towards a future that, to me, seems uncertain. I understand that this forest, this tract of human designated wilderness, will reshape and change, evolving to survive in an unknown future.
At the end of my walk,
I am certain that I know more than I did when I began. I’m unable to say specifically what more I know. Elusive but
somehow tangible.