Kristin Leachman: Longleaf Lines
July 23, 2022 – February 5, 2023
In June 2020, artist Kristin Leachman traveled to an old-growth longleaf pine forest in southwest Georgia.
Longleaf forests are one of the most biologically rich ecosystems in the world, second only to tropical rainforests; however, today these forests primarily grow on private lands and are largely unfamiliar to the general public. Through their scale and intimacy, Leachman’s paintings collapse this sense of distance and offer viewers a physically immersive experience. Focused on the longleaf’s bark formations, her works enlarge these patterns into monumentally scaled bio- morphic abstractions. Capturing the tree’s marvelously scaly and fire-resis - tant surface, Leachman’s pictures also appear singed with fire. This effect points to the destructive histories
of these landscapes. Longleaf once spanned 90 million acres across the southern United States but declined to just 3 million acres after centuries of harvesting for ship masts, railroad ties and turpentine farming. These forests would have been cleared entirely for develop- ment had it not been for quail hunting, which became popular in the 1800s. The scorched surfaces of Leach- man’s pictures also correspond with the practice of regular burn cycles that foresters now use to maintain the longleaf ecosystem. As both a ravaging and refining force, fire is a fitting metaphor for the revitalized forests of longleaf pine, which today rise phoenix-like from the ashes.
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