THE LANGUAGE OF TREES (MIXED MEDIA WORKS ON PAPER)
Element : Wood
Focus : Hidden
Sense of place : Forest / Field / Verge.
Time : Past / Present / Future
“Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth.” Herman Hesse
CONTACT ME to enquire about any the the paintings below.
THE INSPIRATION
The desire to ‘collect’ and depict this series of trees emerged in 2022, inspired partly by environment, partly by myth, and partly by science. I became interested in recent scientific studies about the way in which trees and plants ‘communicate’ in a variety of slow moving ways, maintaining the eco system within their immediate environment and contributing ultimately to this system in a larger way. I also became interested in the mythology around trees and forests and it’s importance in animism and psychological metaphor. Trees connect the past with the present and each one planted then becomes a gift to the future, they roll across time, here before us and also most likely after us. The physical trees in the first 6 pieces are from my direct environment and therefore form a backdrop to my small world and life. I am at the beginning of this work and hope to develop it further over the next few years within its creative process and theoretical meaning.
THE PROCESS
The pieces themselves start as a hastily taken digital image, sometimes photographed whist walking or sometimes whilst travelling by car or train. The image then goes through a series of alterations, initially via the computer, then into print and then onto handmade paper. The process then continues with paint, ink and other mixed media into its final place of completion. This process is deliberate and in many ways echos and retraces the evolution of mark making over time, from a burned wooden twig drawn upon a flat surface to the mobile phones we use to capture images today. Each piece runs this process back ward from digital to material and in the same way that my work aims to connect the landscape past to the landscape future, the echos of this connection over time can be seen within each image.
The first set of 6 were produced in 2022 and form part of a larger body of work “FOLDING IN” centred around the environment in winter.