These four saplings were burnt and felled in the 2020 fires. They were collected from my friends property near Sassafras, the trunks are mostly intact because they were wet from defending against the fires, but the fire was so intense it travelled underground turning the roots to embers. Strong winds felled the trees, but the trunks survived in recognisable shape with incredible root structures ending in blacked nubs. After drying for four years I have now oiled the wood and brought it back to life.

Suspending the saplings gives a sense of looking up at the tress from underground and imagining what these trees could have become over time. A few months after the fires, I climbed mount Nowa Nowa to see a panoramic vista of the scorched landscape. I was so happy to see vivid green beauty exploding from the blackened chaos.

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