Andie Thrams

ForestSong is an art project by Andie Thrams that investigates grief, beauty, and interconnection; shares images and science; invokes the sacred; bears witness; and invites action. The project centers on painting prayer flags to deepen appreciation of and connection to forests, address environmental despair, and celebrate biophilia. The project also shares contemporary wildfire and forest ecology, and suggests actionable steps to foster environmental stewardship for individuals and communities.

ForestSong Origin Story

Like many others during pandemic isolation in early 2020, I experienced mounting despair over widespread denial of science, racial/social/sexual inequities, gun violence, fake news, COVID deaths, frightening politics, worldwide habitat destruction, species extinction, catastrophic wildfire, and other impacts of climate change.

I sought a creative process to help me respond to the unique sadness of our times through my own lens. Over the decades, nearly every forest I explored made me a firsthand witness to human-caused habitat devastation. Solastalgia* had crept into my joyful biophilic** forest painting experiences. Scientists had made me acutely aware of the vast and concerning implications of climate change for trees and forests. And, Hospice councillors had taught me how deep grieving can paradoxically rekindle joy. Instead of trying to keep my sadness at bay while painting, I wondered what might happen if I were to gaze steadfastly at my own environmental awareness and grief while painting in forests…

* Solastalgia is a word coined by Australian environmental philosopher Glenn A. Albrecht, to describe the unique emotional pain produced by environmental degradation impacting people in their home habitats.
** Biophilia has been defined by Edward O. Wilson in Biophilia (1984) to mean the rich, natural pleasure that comes from being surrounded by living organisms.

ForestSong & Blessings

The ancient belief that winds carry blessings depicted on prayer flags over the landscape to all beings originated in Southeast Asia. These days prayer flags can be found flying round the world. My work for this project is a spin on this tradition—I entwine blessings within each prayer flag I make in the forest. (More on my process here.) Since my original project title, Forest Prayer Flags, may hold problematic connotations, I retitled the project, ForestSong. The heart of my work remains the same: to explore grief, beauty, and interconnection by creating forest prayer flags. I believe our survival as humans requires rekindling reverence for the natural world. Whether you use the word prayer, wish, or blessing, the intention to heal our broken world by sending good will to all beings on winds across the landscape is a good thing to do!

A Work in Progress

I continued making Forest Prayer Flags throughout the pandemic years, during summers of raging wildfire, and I am still going strong. The impact has been profound. My spirits are lifted nearly every time I go into the forest to create prayer flags, whether I am alone or with others. Paradoxically, the more I allow myself to fully embrace the sadness of our era, and invite it into my artmaking, the more hope is rekindled and energy for action arises. Sadly, the same anxieties that gave rise to this project are still very much still with us—all the more reason to continue creating and sharing the ForestSong process… Happy to say, it seems to empower others, too.