Wildfire Prints

As a Digital Computational Studies and Visual Arts Major I wanted to create something that would have more of an emotional impact on people than just graphs and data. I created these prints to give the viewer a sense of driving through a forest with the flames nearby. This is an experience many Californians and others fleeing wildfires face as they live in constant fear of losing their homes and communities while on constant alert for evacuation through the fire season. The prints were carved out of linolium and handprinted with a wooden spoon onto various types of paper pre-coated with colored wet ink. I used an old European technique called fumage where a candle is lit and held under the canvas (or paper) and the smoke sticks onto the surface as the wax holds it in place. The addition of fumage in these prints adds another dimension of viseral smoke that reminds me of the clausterphobia felt breathing in smoky air for weeks or months on end.