Acoustic Forest is an interactive sculpture constructed from locally sourced Rhode Island wood. In the foreground, a diverse array of tree and bark pieces are hand-carved with etchings of downy woodpecker acoustic signals. Weaving behind and among the trees are paper feathers, evoking the classic downy woodpecker wing pattern. Together, the components represent many of the ways these charismatic woodpeckers communicate with each other, described in naturalist field notes beside the anchoring log. The audience is invited to join the chorus by picking up a drum stick and creating sound through their own exploration of the various surfaces.

This installation was created in collaboration with Orinthologist Nico Moody during the 2025 Vis-a-thon (Vis-a-thon is a collaborative program that pairs Rhode Island STEM researchers with RISD graduate student artists to explore art-based approaches to science visualization that surface unexpected questions and connections in their research through a focused, hackathon-style format).