Zoe Keller - Postfire

Graphite on Paper, 60"x45” This piece was created for Zoe Keller's 2018 feature show at Antler Gallery "Forest" What is a Complex Early Seral ForestAs a mixed or high severity fire sweeps across a forested landscape, it leaves behind the vital ingredients for the life of a new forest. Tree crowns burn, and some living trees are killed or damaged severely enough to die slowly in the following years. As these mature trees wane, the canopy is pulled open. Light rains down on the forest floor, nutrients and moisture once monopolized by trees becomesavailable for new forms of plant life, and the ground is made rich with woody debris. Grasses, wildflowers, shrubs, and hardwood and coniferous tree seedlings take hold in this landscape, weaving together complex and diverse plant communities. This burst of vegetation creates habitats for a diverse group of species. Grasses, flower nectar, seeds and berries touch off a tangled food web, twisting through insects to rodents, birds, and bats,