Sylvan Essence: In the Language of the Forest

Sylvan Essence is a multi-sensory, interactive installation which explores the visual, auditory, and aromatic language of the Hoh Rainforest, a temperate forest in Northwest Washington, situated on the ancestral lands of the Hoh and Quileute Tribes. Employing photography, sculpture, sound, olfactory and tactile elements, this piece allows the viewer to experience arboreal attunement, each sensory element immersing the individual in plant-based perception. Here one sees what the tree sees, hears how the tree speaks, and smells its environment. Drawing from scientific research on plant communication and tree bioacoustics, individuals in this reconstructed forest cosmos have an opportunity to imagine “becoming-with” a multi-species ecosystem that is based on resource-sharing, synergism, and regeneration. Using installation art as a rehearsal space for reimagining ecological relationships, Sylvan Essence proposes a world where multi-species intersectionality and empathetic kinship are possible.