lightgreyartgallery: Kauri, Resin, and Time – @laurenwilmshurst Creating this piece I was insp
lightgreyartgallery: Kauri, Resin, and Time – @laurenwilmshurst Creating this piece I was inspired by the giddying millions of years it takes resin to fossilize into amber. Trees produce resin for protection. It has antiseptic properties and clots wounds in tree bark from insect predation and other injuries. Insect and plant debris trapped in amber offers ghostly suggestions of Earth’s ancient ecology. New Zealand Kauri, Agathis australis, is one of two extant tree species producing resin stable enough to endure fossilization. While no Kauri gum has been around long enough to become amber, Kauri are part of the ancient Araucariaceae family. Fossils from its genus, Agathis, date back to the Cretaceous and Jurassic. -- source link