Deep underwater reside colonies of marine cnidarians of the order Pennatulacea: sea pens and sea whips. They make their homes in the mud and sand at the bottom of the sea, taking on the appearance of meter-long snakes with tails burrowed in the muck and heads bobbing in the ocean current as they feed.

Forty-nine pieces of driftwood found on beaches in Alaska—the 49th State—intertwine in this table-top sculpture that gradually reveals the transformation from rough, weathered exteriors to warmly-colored and finely grained hardwood Sea Whips.