Heather Kasvinsky / Kimberley Maher

Fairbanks, Alaska

The Alaskan Giving Tree: Betula neoalaskana

paper, birch bark, wood

4 x 7 closed; 7 x 48 open

edition of 5

© 2011

$550

Designed and printed by Heather Kasvinsky and written by Kimberley Maher, this book is an art and science collaboration in conjunction with the One Tree Project in Fairbanks, Alaska. Screen-printed in March 2011, this book honors Birch Tree Number 4, an Alaskan birch harvested from Nenana Ridge. Kasvinsky’s fascination with the natural world that surrounds her provides inspiration for her work as an artist. Structural forms in nature as well as diagrams, charts, and elements from old natural history books influenced her imagery for this piece.

Heather Kasvinsky received an MFA in Printmaking from Arizona State University and has taught at the college level for the past twelve years. Heather lives in Fairbanks, AK where she is a studio artist. She currently teaches as adjunct faculty in the art department at University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Her collaborator Kimberley Maher (MSc) has been captivated by Alaskan birch and harvesting birch sap ever since assisting with the Alaska Boreal Forest Council’s Tapping Into Spring educational project in 1998.