Artworks > Tree Collage
TREE COLLAGE (2023-2020)
Each time I start a new collage, painting, or drawing, I look for fresh ways to depict the agency of trees. My purpose is to address several issues: to subvert the notion that trees are merely passive plants that give us shade, to reflect the discoveries that scientists are revealing about complex interconnectivity between species both above and below ground; and to promote action for positive change. In the Tree Collages my process is slow and layered. I use my cell phone camera to photograph my paintings, then I change the photos into high-contrast black and white in order to make transparencies on clear film. By layering and aligning painted paper under the transparency, I create trees in new hybrid forms with just enough of the original structure to convey their identity. I look for fresh ways to visually represent important processes in nature and to stimulate conversations about environmental healing.
