Hemlock

This page will be updated in April 2025 with photos and video of Hemlock. For now, please enjoy the short video below of living and dead hemlock trees in Alabama, Georgia, and Virginia.

The eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is a coniferous tree native to the eastern United States and Canada with its southernmost reach in north Georgia and Alabama. The hemlock is a keystone species in the forest ecosystems where it grows, providing shade, shelter, and habitat for wildlife and helping to regulate temperatures for aquatic life. 

Like many other species indigenous to North America, the hemlock is critically threatened by a non-native insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae; HWA). The aphid-like HWA was first observed in Richmond, Virginia on a tree imported from Japan and began spreading quickly in the 1990s. Without treatment, most hemlock trees die in as little as 3-5 years.

I chose to focus on this species after noticing infected hemlocks in the Cohutta Wilderness of north Georgia, where I did research for my artists’ book Mycorrhizae. I then realized that I was living near the southernmost reach of hemlocks: Bankhead National Forest in northern Alabama, where the HWA has not yet reached. As a counterpoint, I completed an artist residency in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Shenandoah lost around 95% of its hemlocks in the late 1990s and early 2000s because of a lack of early, effective intervention and funding. Stumps, logs, and standing dead trees from giant old growth hemlocks still appear like ghosts in areas like Limberlost Trail.

In the small book, you will find stories and thoughts from my interviews with people who have worked directly with hemlocks and hemlock forests in Alabama, Virginia, and Georgia. The two larger books reflect my own thoughts while spending time in Shenandoah National Forest (Ghosts) and Bankhead National Forest, Alabama (What to Remember). The first book focuses on what has already been lost; the second reminds us of what could be lost if nothing is done.

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Letterpress-printed artist book, edition of 12. Type and images are from metal type, photopolymer plates, linocut, cyanotype, and inkjet. Text & images by Jillian Sico. Spring 2025.

8in x 15in closed; 16in x 16in open.

Materials: handmade flax, abaca/flax, abaca/kozo/hemlock, and hemlock paper with hemlock, walnut, and indigo dyes.

$1500

(Can be bundled with Hemlock: Voices from the South for an additional $75. 50% of profits from Voices will go to three non-profit organizations in Alabama, Georgia, and Virginia.)