Sempervirens in Elementis
Artwork by Jane Kim
Exploring the Angles and Elements of Redwoods
As Sempervirens Fund’s inaugural Forest Fellow, Jane Kim has spent the last year studying the wonders of redwood trees. In order to begin to understand the redwood, the artist learned, they can not be studied in isolation. The trees are both a product of their ecosystem and a force that transforms it.
"I knew that I wanted to explore redwoods from many angles and the elements felt like a way to tell a whole story, " said Kim. "One of the most exciting things about the Forest Fellowship is the access and support I have to research, field trips, and the scientific community."
In her series Sempervirens in Elementis, debuting February 15 at the Andra Norris Gallery in Burlingame, the artist explores the relationship between redwoods and the elements: water, fire, earth, and air. Each work tells stories of the redwoods’ adaptations to the elements and the benefits they offer.
At the center of each piece can be found an ink print of a redwood round cut from a 500-year-old tree collected in the aftermath of the 2020 CZU Fire at the Gateway to Big Basin bordering Big Basin Redwoods State Park. For Kim, the round communicates the scars of human desire. “I am exploring the ways desire manifests itself in our actions and artifacts,” Jane Kim. “Our human relationship with redwoods, especially in the past few centuries, has been both exploitative and curious–but redwoods' relationship with the elements endures.”
The surrounding imagery of each piece in the series represents the natural intelligence of a redwood forest as the center of a complex, interconnected network of species and systems.
Sneak a Peek at Elementis in Sempervirens
WATER
In WATER, Kim submerges the round in a deep pool of a brimming creek to explore the mutualism of Coho salmon and redwood trees. (Concept rendering. Work in progress.)
FIRE
In FIRE, Kim reveals old secrets, from fire-following flora and wildlife, to new habitats for secondary nesters among redwoods’s hollows.
EARTH
In EARTH, Kim examines the secrets that sustain redwoods underground, and their relationship with fungi and earthen critters.
AIR
In AIR, Kim centers on redwoods’ relationship with fog–a critical source of water for the giants–and the wildlife that rely on both.
You can enjoy Jane's full works of art at the Sempervirens in Elementis exhibit at the Andra Norris Gallery from February 15 - March 14. Learn more.
More to Explore
- Watch Jane Kim’s process of learning and creating in Curiosity Stories
- See more of Jane Kim’s illustrations in the Redwoods and Climate Series
- Learn more about redwoods and the elements Under the Redwoods