Framed within a Gothic-arched window, Silence reflects on loss, memory, and the fragile boundary between presence and impermanence. The deep-set window functions as a contemporary shrine, gathering elements of Northern California’s living systems and ancestral presence into a single, contemplative space. A red-legged frog sheltered inside an abalone shell, a young western pond turtle edging forward beneath the lower margin, and an Anna’s hummingbird hovering in a shaft of light trace different forms of vulnerability and resilience.

Indigenous presence appears through the pairing of toyon berries with a traditional arrow tip—recognizing landscapes shaped through long histories of reciprocity and ecological knowledge. Three woodpeckers act as witnesses across time: a Pileated Woodpecker studying cloak moth caterpillars, another looking across a distant mountain landscape, and a Red-breasted Sapsucker carving the word listen in Braille into the frame—a tactile reminder that attention can take many forms.

A fossilized dire wolf skull anchors the composition in deep time while quietly nodding to contemporary conversations around de-extinction and restoration, raising the question of what it means to revive what has been lost in a world that may no longer sustain its return. Throughout the painting, the visible wood grain—particularly in the sky—keeps the image materially tied to the living forest, allowing the body of the tree itself to surface through the scene.

Silence brings the viewer to a threshold between disappearance and persistence, inviting reflection on what we choose to value.

The series begins with Echo in the Grain.