Artworks > Tree Photo Collage
TREE PHOTO COLLAGE
I create visual allegories about nature by cutting apart and combining photos I’ve taken while on mountain hikes and urban walks. In the resulting collages trees engage with wildly differing surroundings. There appears to be a forest scene in an imagined locale, with exaggerated tree-like forms and emotionally charged colors. But everything is strangely simplified, and elements intrude that don’t belong. Since my experiences in nature say we are nature, my work strives to find fresh visual language to bring home that idea. My process is slow, taking care to carefully select, position, and glue the small photo pieces. New hybrid forms emerge, retaining just enough of the original bark and branch structure to convey their identity. I look for fresh and unconventional ways to visually represent powerful processes in nature and to sustain and enliven conversations on healing the environment.
