California Flora (National Forest Condensation Wall, North to South), 2017
‘This body of work depicts the unique and rich collection of national forests in California, where almost every type of landscape environment can be found. I traveled to every part of the state and made a painting in each national forest representative of a specific climate using native plants. I work in the forest site-specifically using a dry pigment spread over trimmings and collected plants that are then set by the moisture in the air overnight. Thus, the works are representations of the plants and also the specific environment – the northern forests’ were often rainy and wet so the works are more saturated, as well as the misty nights of the coast, while the mountains were windy and the deserts much more dry – this can be seen and felt in the composition and texture of the paintings. The works are installed from north to south read from left to right, so at the top there is the Six Rivers and Lassen, drawing a line down through the national forests of California to the southern most paintings on the right of Angeles, San Bernardino, and Cleveland National Forests. Together they represent the diversity of a state and a nation and a silent testament to nature around the world and the hope for its preservation in a changing political and global climate.’
– Sam Falls