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"Drifting Woods" is a filmic work that engages with the local histories of a dense forestland located two hours north of Stockholm. A forest has existed in this area for as long as records have been kept, and only in the last 250 years has it been extensively utilized for industrial production. Through a non-linear composition, the work brings forth the various stages of the forest's development: from the planting and cultivation of saplings, through the different phases of tree felling, to the production of paper pulp and lumber. The work captures how the forest is documented and consistently represented – through scientific experiments, data collections, botanical studies, and retellings of the area's history. The film conveys the histories of both local and migratory perspectives, showing how the expulsion of nomadic practices from the forest is closely linked to the forest's enclosure. What becomes evident through the film is that the capitalization of forests is intertwined with surveillance technology derived from racist ideologies. The work collaborates with biologists to gain a deeper understanding of tree life and its interconnection with the underground mycelium, forming what the biologist Suzanne Simard refers to as network topologies. "Drifting Woods" is also a network topology, connecting the forest with the narratives that inhabit it. Listening to the stories of this network also means hearing how the forest is portrayed and understanding that its future depends on how the forest's stories are retold within a broader narrative.

Pia Rönicke's work spans from film, prints, sculptures to objects, which together build narratives. Her work arises from perspectives of a drifting practice that opens up to new connections to land and ways of being present within an everyday, to zones where plant life transgresses existing borders of occupation. Collecting is a recurring aspect of her practice, the personal, ethical and political dimensions of it.