Burnt Branch Soundscape
2024
cast-off burnt branch and soundscape, from the McDougall Creek Wildfire site, repurposed linen soaked in Feverfew, electronics
Burnt Branch Soundscape invites a reflection on the forest affected by the McDougal Creek wildfire (2023) near West Kelowna, Okanagan. The Okanagan valley, in the south interior of BC, Canada is experiencing increased frequency and severity of wildfires due to climate change and drought. I visited the site one year after the wildfire and collected a charred branch, a cast-off from a ponderosa pine who survived the fire. In that spot, I made a field recording documenting the calls of birds who returned to the forest, the flow of McDougal Creek, and a helicopter — an acoustic feature of the area now under surveillance for wildfire.
I remember Kelowna from my childhood as a place of beauty and abundance. During summer holidays, my family would drive to Kelowna to stay with my aunt, uncle and cousins. I would play with my brother and cousin in a pine forest behind the house. The ground, covered in needles had a dry soft sound underfoot. Nearby, there was a small apple orchard that offered fruit. In the hot afternoons we’d go to Okanagan Lake where I learned to swim.
For Burnt Branch Soundscape, I wrapped the charred branch in hand-stitched linen cloth repurposed from my late mother’s belongings and soaked in feverfew — a plant traditionally used to treat headache and fever. The cloth holds a media player that loops the soundscape for listeners.
“Julie Andreyev’s Burnt Branch hints at a bodily form retrieved from a burn zone. A piece of heirloom linen bandages the limb-like branch. While an accompanying media player (like so many joggers used to wear) plays field recordings from the site in the Okanagan, where this tree burned. We see ourselves and a portion of ourselves in all these moments, even as we struggle to appropriately apply care.”
—David McGregor, co-curator, 2026 “Wildfire” exhibition, The New Gallery
– 2026 group exhibition: “Wildfire” exhibition, curated by Lara Felsing and David McGregor, The New Gallery, Calgary, AB
– 2024 group exhibition: “Wildfire”, curated by Lara Felsing and David McGregor, Red Brick Art Centre, Alberta
photo courtesy of Danny Luong, @dny.lu
