Betula Papyrifera: an Elegy

Betula papyrifera: an elegy is an artist book taking the form of a scroll in which photographs of decaying, hollow birch trees are unfurled by a viewer. Paper birch is native to the boreal forest, the earth’s largest land-based biome and store of carbon. A pioneer species, paper birch is one of the first to grow after disturbances such as fire where their seeds are carried by the wind. Yet, due to global warming, boreal forest climate zones are moving north much faster than the trees can migrate. Paper birch trees have relatively short life spans but decompose slowly on the forest floor. Long after the inner wood has been recycled by insects and fungi, their water-resistant bark skins remain as hollow horizontal forms, vestiges of a bygone climate.