Caught Skies and Pillowed Pines (Black Forest) is the fourth iteration of the Make-Believe Forest, an ongoing series that asks where childhood selves retreat to in the shadows of adulthood and whether they can be brought back. 

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In children's stories, the forest is often a site of transformation or trial. Here, black pleather pines overtake the scene, appearing menacing at first, but their thorny forms are made from stacked handmade pillows stuffed with fluff. These objects associated with comfort become strange and defensive, shifting between protection and threat. 

 

Black sand is formed into eternal sandcastles that no longer crumble or wash away with the ocean. These childhood structures associated with temporary and improvised play are instead frozen into permanent forms. Clouds made from instant papier-mâché are pinned, squashed, or caught by other objects within the landscape. Their presence is now hard, grounded, and fixed. Remaining untouched, the clouds—and the dreams they symbolize—are static and enduring. 

 

Moving through the installation requires the viewer to negotiate and navigate. They decide how close to step, how to move through it, and how its parts grow, function, and decay. This act of exploration mirrors childhood itself: a time spent piecing together the logic of the world given to them, questioning its structures, and sensing its hidden rules.

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The forest is built from many parts that together form an invented psychological landscape. Each solo exhibition offers a chance to return to the forest and uncover an unexplored patch. Across the series, the forest is a site to acknowledge the loss of childhood while remaining open to its possible regeneration.