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These "books" are a growing series of three-dimensional works about the effects of certain bark beetle species on Western forests.
You can view a video that offers inside page |
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Insect Killed Book Details Unique, not editioned Bark-beetle-bored bark embedded in epoxy resin; laser-cut wooden pages that interpolate the front to the back cover shapes, including the holes that the beetles made; wire-edge bound with linen thread; wooden beads with burned in letters which spell "insect killed." 3.75" x 5" x 2" plus 6-inch strings and beads SOLD |
Lingua Larvae, Book Details Unique, not editioned Bark-beetle-bored bark embedded in epoxy resin; laser-cut 3.75" x 10" x 2" plus 12-inch strings and beads |
Bug Ruts Book Details Unique, not editioned Bark-beetle-bored bark embedded in epoxy resin; laser-cut felt pages that interpolate the front to the back cover shapes, dyed with iron oxide; wire-edge bound with linen thread; wooden "worry" beads 9.25" x 5" x 2.5" plus 6-inch strings and beads |
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Chewed and Charred Book Details Unique, not editioned Laser-cut and etched-acrylic covers; laser-cut cork pages that interpolate the front to the back cover shapes; wire-edge bound with linen thread; wooden beads 12.5" x 6" x 3.75" plus 12-inch strings and beads |
Coleoptera coniferi Book Details Unique, not editioned Bark-beetle-bored bark embedded in epoxy resin; laser-cut and -etched cork pages that interpolate the front to the back cover shapes; wire-edge bound with linen thread; twig beads. 5.125" x 8.625" x 2.5" plus 15-inch strings and beads |
Pine Beetle Killed, Book Details Unique, not editioned Laser-cut and etched-wood covers; laser-cut felt pages that interpolate the front to the back cover shapes, dyed with iron oxide; wire-edge bound with linen thread; tea-dyed wooden letter beads 4.75" x 7.5" x 2.625" plus 10-inch strings and beads |
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Grub Nest Book Details Unique, not editioned Stiffened, sewn and beaded laser-cut wool felt covers; laser-cut iron-oxide dyed wool felt pages that interpolate the front to the back cover shapes; white-bead "grubs" sewn into "galleries;" wire-edge bound with linen thread; wooden beads. 12.5" x 5" x 2.5" plus 7-inch strings and beads |
Larva Galleria Book Details Unique, not editioned Bark-beetle-bored bark embedded in epoxy resin; laser-cut and iron-oxide-dyed felt pages that interpolate the front to the back cover shapes, sewn into "galleries" with white-bead "grubs"; wire-edge bound with linen thread; wooden beads with burned in letters which spell the title. 12.5" x 6" x 3.75" plus 10-inch strings and beads |
Untitled Book Details Unique, not editioned Bark-beetle-bored bark embedded in epoxy resin; laser-cut and wood pages that interpolate the front to the back cover shapes, engraved with tracks of different bark beetle species; wire-edge bound with linen thread; wooden beads. 9.25" x 5.25" x 3" plus 7-inch strings and beads |
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Encyclopedia Beetletainia Book Details Unique, not editioned Laser-cut and -etched acrylic; laser-cut wood pages that interpolate the front to the back cover shapes, engraved with tracks of different bark beetle species; copper foil stamped name plates; wire-edge bound with linen thread; wooden beads. 9.25" x 5.25" x 2.25" plus 11.5-inch strings and beads - SOLD |
Book Details Unique, not editioned Fir-engraver-inscribed wood; wire-edge bound with linen thread; magnets. 8"W x 4.85"L x 4.5"H closed |
Book Details Unique, not editioned Alaska yellow cedar, leather, linen thread |
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Forest Decomposition Book Details Unique, not editioned Beetle-inscribed bark embedded in epoxy resin covers; laser-cut mat board pages with tea-dyed rice paper and pyrography; viscose endpapers, linen thread 9"H x 8"W x 4"D closed |
 Ars datum est (Volume XIV) Book Details Unique, not editioned Fir-engraver-inscribed log; laser-cut mat board; paint; linen thread. 16.5"H x 5" diameter, closed Each page is essentially a bar from a bar chart representing the areas affected in British Columbia and Alberta from 1999-2007. |
Red Stage Book Details Unique, not editioned Mountain pine beetle galleries in pine bark embedded in resin, laser-cut bamboo pages with color laserprint transfers, industrial wool felt, wire, linen thread. 15"H x 7.5"W x 3"D, closed LANDSAT based surveys classify forest health according to pixel hue: green is healthy, red has been recently killed by beetles, grey has been dead for one or more seasons. |
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Spatial Niche Partitioning Book Details Unique, not editioned Bark beetle galleries on pine branch, laser-cut mat board pages with laserprint transfers, , elastic thread. 22.5"L x 2.0"-4.75" diam Different species of beetles space themselves out along the height of the tree according to their use of resources. Aggressive mountain pine beetles get the lowest portion of the trunk, where the most nutrients are flowing up and down the tree. |
Book Details Unique, not editioned Alaska yellow cedar, leather, linen thread 14"H x 3.625"W x 3.5"D closed; 29"W open An accordion-fold book, more like a Japanese screen than the Western codex, using similar materials to Volume XII.
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 Black Branch (Volume XVIII) Book Details Unique, not editioned Maple branch, laser-cut and -engraved bamboo pages, felt end papers, linen thread 27"L x 3.5"D closed; 3.5" diameter A difficult book to create pages and binding for, since the limb was both arched and its split was twisted. The engravings of beetle galleries spread up the pages from the bottom, back to front. See my blog post about the process. SOLD |
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Poetry Sticks Book Details Unique, not editioned Bark beetle galleries on small pine branches, laser-cut and engraved cotton vellum pages, leather, spine silk thread. 8.5"L x 1" diam These books include two poems by Melinda Mueller. My favorite line of Larva (XIXA) is, "they write by excavation, by/gnawing forward toward the next life,/the life with wings." |
Unwinding through Time Book Details Unique, not editioned Bark beetle galleries on alpine fir or pine, printed Tyvek, metal latch hardware 6"H x 3.5" diam The "pages" here are strips of USFS Aerial Detection Survey maps in a triangular helical cylinder origami fold. The maps show a small portion of North Central Washington from 1996 to 2009. SOLD |
The Curve of Loss Book Details Unique, not editioned Dyed silk, embroidery floss, branches Scroll: 24.5”W x 17”H x 1”D The top embroidered curve is the loss to western forest lands caused by all bark beetles from 2000 to 2012, ~46 million acres. The lower curve is losses due solely to mountain pine beetle. The threads mark year points. Data from Union of Concerned Scientists, "Rocky Mountain Forests at Risk" |
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Scolytid Lifecycle Book Details Unique, not editioned Fir engraver galleries on log, iron-oxide-dyed wood felt, embroidery thread, beads, tarnished brass grommets and binding post. 5"H x 6" diam Off-white beads stand for eggs in their chambers, embroidered trails as larvae chew their way out of the chambers, becoming larger, and punched-out exit holes indicate where they became beetles and flew off to the next tree... |
Towers of Silence Book Details Unique, not editioned Logs, laser-cut and laser-engraved iron-oxide-dyed cotton vellum pages, wire-edge bound with brass rods, linen thread. 21"H x 17"W x 9D" These books include a poem by Melinda Mueller comparing beetle-killed trees to Zoroastrian excarnation towers. Because there are two voices in the poem, I made two towers. The small books are at each summit, with the poem repeated in alternating fonts to indicate each voice. |
What the Beetles Wrote Book Details Unique, not editioned Mountain pine beetle galleries on log; cast paper pulp, mat board, iron-oxide-dyed non-woven viscose 11"H x 9.5"W x 6"D closed; I used silicon molds on logs to cast paper pulp pages with beetle galleries debossed on them. SOLD |
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Outbreak Book Details Unique, not editioned Log with beetle galleries, handmade Japanese paper, iron-oxide-dyed non-woven viscose 12"H x 6" diam Some of the sheets are chiri ("leftover") kozo fiber which has many small bits of bark embedded in them. The frontispiece has leaf skeletons embedded in it. The increasing circular areas covered by rubbings taken from the same represent the proportion of tree mortality in the Quesnel Timber Supply Area of central British Columbia 1999 - 2016. |
Hidden in Plain Sight Book Details Unique, not editioned Log with beetle galleries; letterpress-printed, handmade and commercial Japanese paper; iron-oxide-dyed non-woven viscose 12"H x 4.75" diam Based on a paper by Six et al.: ~25% of lodgepole pines in a research tract survived mass attack by mountain pine beetles. DNA analyses of the survivors showed "quieter" encoding for certain VOCs that the beetles perceive. The interior pages of the book have been printed with "ASCII art" of the mRNA encoding for monoterpene synthase. The proportion of dark, low-contrast ("quiet") to light, high-contrast ("noisy") pages in the book is 25/100. |
Survivorship Book Details Unique, not editioned Log with mountain pine beetle galleries; letterpress-printed text with inked-in galleries, handmade and commercial Japanese paper; brass binding post 6"H x 9.5" diam Like Vol. XXVI, based on a paper by Six et al.: ~7% of whitebark pines in a research tract survived mass attack by mountain pine beetles. DNA analyses of the survivors showed less encoding for certain VOCs that the beetles perceive. The interior pages of the book have been printed with "ASCII art" of the mRNA base pairs for the gene that turns of monoterpene synthase. The proportion of dark, low-contrast ("quiet") to light, high-contrast ("noisy") pages in the book is 7/100. SOLD |
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Book Details Unique, not editioned Branch with beetle galleries, various papers, linen thread, wire, beads 4"H x 3.5" diam A test of a form in which small "booklets" are bound into splits in a branch such that, when open, the pages can be viewed; and when closed, the shape returns to its original round form. SOLD |
Book Details Unique, not editioned Log with beetle galleries, offset-printed handmade Japanese papers, Western codex binding, linen thread iron-oxide-dyed non-woven viscose 11"H x 5.5" diam The large scale version of Volume XXVIII. I glued each booklet between its wedge covers with iron-oxide-dyed viscose (derived from wood!) endpapers. The ratio of dark to light pages follows the proportions explained for Volumes XXV and XXVI. |
Species Distribution Book Details Unique, not editioned Douglas fir branch, laser-cut wood, laser-print transfers, viscose and silk, Kevlar thread, wood beads 3.5" x 32.5" closed, 3.5" x 19' open The longest book I have made yet, it represents the varieties of bark beetle species that may be found distributed along the height of the tree.
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Book Details Unique, not editioned Douglas fir branches, laser-cut wood, laserprint transfers, bronze rings 86"H x 18"W x 3"D The top three species contributing to
Data from Aerial Detection Surveys summarized in WA DNR annual Forest Health reports SOLD |
Book Details Unique, not editioned Branch, laser-cut wood panels, iron-oxide-dyed and industrial wool felt, linen threat, embroidery floss 8.75"H x 6.75"W x 3"D Mountain pine beetles and pinion Ips carry species of fungi on their bodies. The fungi's microfilaments burrow into the wood searching for nutrients. They transfer phosphorus and nitrogen back out toward the surface; without them, these beetles could not digest the wood. The covers represent the beetle galleries; embroidery on the pages represent the fungi, whose grazing leaves a tell-tale stain in the wood--bluer for the mountain pine beetle and greyer for the pinon Ips. |
Book Details Unique, not editioned Log half-round, handmade and commercial papers, abaca fiber 14"H x 6"W x 8"D Based on the idea that fungi mycelium provide access to nutrients from otherwise indigestible wood as is described in Volume XXXII. Log from below American Ridge, WA; fiber from milnery supply as it is often used as stiffener in elaborate women's hats. |
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Book Details Unique, not editioned Branch, dimensional lumber with blue stain, laser-cut wood with laser print transfers 5"H x 12.75"W x 4"D Both bark beetles and humans like to make their homes out of trees, so in some sense we are competing for the same resource. This book interpolates the gallery-covered branch into a piece of 1x4 dimensional lumber. You can see a video animation of the pages here: https://vimeo.com/468773992 SOLD |
Base Pairs Book Details Unique, not editioned Branch with galleries; wire-edge binding, offset-printed mRNA c-a-t-g encoding for monoterpene synthase; brass buckle, iron-oxide-dyed felt 9.75"W x 3" diameter The offset printed pages have the c-a-t-g base pairs interspersed with mountain pine beetle galleries, in the same proportions as Vol. XXVII, Survivorship. |
The Sky Cracks Open Book Details Unique, not editioned Branch with galleries; laser-cut wood pages in an accordion-fold, typewriter type on paper, painted folded Tyvek backing 4.5"W x 3.5"H x 2"D Typewriter poet Sean Petrie wrote me the poem that inspired this book. He was patient enough to retype it according to my templated pages, on three different kinds of paper, which I then decided should be cut-and-pasted onto the pages, "ransom-note-style." It begins, "The sky cracked open." The salient ending of the poem is, "From the leaves/To/The bark beetles/Scurrying/Beneath Laying out/The warning/In a language/We/Have Yet/To grasp A pattern for all/Any/Who take/The time/To see." SOLD |
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Emergency Brake Book Details Unique, not editioned Branch with beetle galleries; letterpress pages on abaca paper, printed by Ellie Mathews/The North Press; bamboo placemat; brass eyelets and screws; iron-oxide dyed viscose. 12"W x 19"L open; 4" diameter closed Murray Reiss' poem is repeated on 3 pages, because "If we were bark beetles/ |
Below the Bark Book Details Unique, not editioned Log with beetle galleries; fabric printed with original painting of ponderosa bark, quilt batting, black grommets and wood screws, commercial fabric, magnets. 12"W x 19"L open; 4" diameter closed Named in honor of our 2021-22 eponymous exhibit at the Missoula Art Museum. SOLD |
What the Beetles Sang Book Details Unique, not editioned
Sliced and laser-etched log with beetle galleries (Scolytus monticolae); antique violin clamps. 6.575"W x 8.5"H x 5.75"D The violin clamps were used to make Hadanger folk violins, so I felt the book needed to reference music. Aldo Rivera Renteria composed a short suite of music to accompany the piece, listen to it here: What the Beetles Sang | Bark Beetles Book Vol. 39 - YouTube. SOLD |
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The Orchestration of Climate Book Details Edition of 2 Digital print of original painting of Ponderosa bark, laser-cut and -etched wood, panoramic photo of beetle-chewed log, laser-printed and alcohol-dyed score 10.25"W x 13.25"H x 1.25"D Aldo Rivera Renteria also composed a longer suite of music to accompany Volume 39, which demanded a more formal folio of the score. Listen to it here: Conversation, Improvisation No. 6 | Wood and Metal - YouTube. |
A Brief Bestiary of Bark Beetles
Book Details Unique Shoulder cut-off boards of Douglas fir; Laser print transfers of rhyming stanzas about 22 species; weighted base, wooden pole, leather straps with brass buckles 10"W x 39"H x 10"D The lumber was given to me by cabinetmaker emertius Kurt Roheim who logged and milled the boards himself. The lines from the mill reminded me of children's handwriting exercise sheets and from there the idea of an alphabet book for bark beetles arose. I realized however that each species' gallery could stand in for a human's initial capital letter. |
Split the Difference
