Upturned Roots

Silverpoint on Prepared Panels, 2018-2019

Melissa Parhm | Artist Statement

Upturned Roots is inspired by a tree in Glen Ellen - Kenwood I’ve been drawn to - especially the roots. After the 2017 fires, I searched and found it still intact. I saw the world in the tree, the concept of pareidolia.

I begin by preparing the panels in order to create a foundation for the silver. Building up many layers of luminous ground enables the interplay of light with the silver, creating a three-dimensional effect. The sun’s rays shifting on the panel’s surface results in an image that is ever-changing. New forms emerge and dissolve, like the forms I see in this tree’s roots. 

Drawing with silver is sustainable and connects me to the lineage of artists I’m influenced by who worked in silverpoint in the ages before graphite was discovered and mined. Today as I am writing this, the fires are again raging in Napa. Again, I go into my studio, the elements, in order to honor them. They are all we have, they are the matter we are made from.