A contemplation on goosepens, 2025

Wood and thread

I found this piece of wood in an old-growth forest in Mendocino County. Many of the Redwood trees around were gutted of their insides from fires. The skeletal charcoal dens left behind by wildfires became known as ‘goosepens’, due to their historical use to keep domestic animals. Goosepens create habitat and refuge for all sorts of wildlife. A contemplation on goosepens considers the capacity of a life-force as resilient as the Redwoods. To burn and to live; to destroy and to create.