This installation focused on dendoctronus rufipennis, a spruce bark beetle, which decimated millions of acres of Alaska’s Sitka Spruce forest. The infestation in Alaska's spruce forests, like all of the forests along the Northwest coasts was due to global warming. 

In Infestation, I've tried to recreate the dark, moist, aromatic home of this quarter inch insect, with a main chamber and nine perpendicular galleries. At the end of each gallery is a circular light table containing a magnified image of a spruce bark beetle. Surrounding the light tables are four tons of freshly cut spruce wood chips. In the center of the chamber, stands a steel/glass display case containing 2000 insects. The sound of insects eating reverberated through the gallery.