Alison Moritsugu is a New York artist who uses logs and stumps as canvases for her beautiful paintings to deliver a mindful commentary on our relationship with the environment.

On her website, she says in her artist statement that "Today, photoshopped images of verdant forests and unspoiled beaches invite us to vacation and sightsee, providing a false sense of assurance that the wilderness will always exist. By exploring idealized views of nature, my work acknowledges our more complex and precarious relationship with the environment."

Moritsugu uses logs from naturally fallen trees, and by doing so is balancing artistic appreciation of nature's beauty and calling for environmental awareness. Cracks and blemishes in the log tell of the tree's decay, while her paintings restore it to its beautiful origin. Here is a look at some of her work in the log series.