Joshua Tree Project

Holly Willis
Featured image for “Joshua Tree Project”
The images are part of a larger series created in the Mojave Desert around Joshua Tree in the fall of 2023 that explore the shifting state of the desert. California lawmakers recently passed the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act, designed to protect Joshua Trees, which are increasingly under threat due to climate change. The urgency of this act was amplified by the Dome Fire of 2020 (just one of many devastating wildfires in recent years) that destroyed more than 43,000 acres and approximately 1.4 million Joshua Trees in the Mojave National Preserve. Efforts are currently underway to restore the trees through replanting via the National Park Service’s Dome Fire Tree Restoration Project, a heroic effort deploying more than 100 volunteers. However, while nearly 2,000 new Joshua Trees have been planted since 2021, less than a fifth of them are still alive today.
Image
Joshua Tree Orange and Pink
Image
Joshua Tree Sunrise October 2023
Image
Joshua Tree October 2023
About the Author

Holly Willis

Holly Willis is a hybrid artist/theorist working primarily in film, video, and still photography. Her work often examines the materiality of the image within a broader context of new materialist philosophy and the histories of experimental film, video, and photography with the goal to design encounters with media that spark an embodied sense of curiosity and wonder, alongside critical reflection about our relationship with the matter around us. Her images and essays have been published in numerous journals, including River Teeth, carte blanche, Ponder and The Normal School.