At the invitation of Corridor 2122 Gallery founding member William Raines, Protect and Plant: Sugar Pine Pyramids and The Windy Fire is affiliated with the 2024 CSU Summer Arts course 'Art < Anthropocene > Action', where Raines serves as the program director.

The exhibition presents installations of photographs that investigate my return to landscapes devastated by the Railroad Fire (2017) and the Windy Fire (2021). Respectively, the pictures were captured near Yosemite, along the Sugar Pine Road that flanks the Shadow of the Giants Trail, and in Tulare County along the segment of M-50 between the town of Johnsondale and Parker Pass
(Western Divide Hwy).
 

Seven years after the Railroad Fire, deep scars in the landscape persist, and cleanup efforts remain incomplete. Sugar Pine Pyramids explores the unfinished work in the tipi-like forms of clustered pine and redwood debris off the Sugar Pine Road. As an update and extension of my Shadows of the Giants series, these images document both the devastation and natural regeneration of the terrain, urging a deeper reflection on our role in forest conservation. Notably, the forest regrowth is progressing rapidly, showcasing nature's resilience and capacity for recovery, challenging the often pessimistic narratives surrounding climate change.
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n 2021, the Windy Fire burned more than 97,000 acres in the Sequoia National Forest and the Tule River Reservation in California. Three years after the event, I took photographs along the M-50. These pictures depict burned conifer species with a reemerging forest at their feet. The images in color offer a stark contrast to the black-and-white Pyramids pictures, highlighting the dynamic interplay of destruction and rebirth in the aftermath of the wildfire.

Amidst the photography, data bars constructed from 2x4 lumber purchased from The Home Depot introduce a layer of irony, highlighting the tension between commercial consumption and environmental preservation. This juxtaposition underscores the complexities of our relationship with nature, prompting viewers to reflect on their own roles in the cycle of destruction and renewal. Moreover, these bars represent encouraging current climate change research while exemplifying the dilemma of relying upon the industrial complex to address environmental concerns. This tension highlights the complicated relationship between human activity, nature, and the corporate system that simultaneously supports and stymies progress.

Finally, a triptych of close-ups of Giant Sequoia saplings reveals my own intervention in the landscape, where I took locally grown saplings and planted them along the Shadow of the Giants Trail. With this gesture, I seek not to condemn humanity as a mere 'exploitive' force against nature, but instead allude to the ecosophical advantages of the two interacting in unison. The exhibition is therefore more than a reflection on one of the key planetary boundaries of the Anthropocene in the form of land-system change: it is a call to action. The living trees in the gallery are for visitors to take, plant, and contribute to the restoration of our natural world.

Aiming to inspire continued dialogue on policy changes needed to protect and fortify forests globally, Protect and Plant ultimately hopes to encourage everyone to engage in a collective commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainable practices.

Diran Lyons