Notes from the Forest Archive
Imprints of the rings of ancient trees, hand-cast on silk
Opening Reception: October 16th, 2026. 6pm - 10pm
“What is it like to live in a forest for 2,000 years and then, over the course of three days, be brought to the ground by two people with axes and a saw?”
Notes from the Forest Archive invites viewers to contemplate the lives and deaths of ancient trees: what they witnessed, what they endured, and the role humans play in both their celebration and destruction.
The exhibition features imprints taken from the cross-sections of Coastal Redwoods and Giant Sequoias felled in California. Their annular rings, each marking a year of growth, survival, drought, fire, and environmental change, are cast in latex, highlighted with metallic powders, and mounted on silk.
The resulting works exist somewhere between historical record, memorial, and physical trace. They preserve the patterns left behind by living beings whose lives extended across centuries of human history, but whose destruction took only days.
Notes from the Forest Archive asks viewers to sit with the contradiction between reverence and consumption. We admire these trees for their age, scale, strength, and beauty, while participating in systems that allow them to be cut down.
But, stay tuned as we will announce dates where you will be able to have a hands on experience at creating one of these tree casting by yourself and take it home with you.
The exhibition will open on October 16th, 6pm at Prism Arts Philadelphia located at 1021 Hamilton St, Philadelphia PA 19123, and will remain on view through November 20th.
About the Artist
Larry Wood,
a Drifter, a Worker, a Lover, a Father, one of a kind metal craftsman, dilettante artist and an amazing conversationalist whose favorite response to making things, has always been "let's just do it"!