We all have a unique connection and history with trees. I wanted to reexamine my own journey with and dependency upon trees in a way that would urge others to consider the familiar anew. Descanso Gardens provided a truly magnificent place to let the imagination wander, physically and conceptually exploring the surrounding trees in a process of discovery that developed during my time which informed the installation's final appearance. I consider the work a collaboration with the spirit of the trees and gardens. 

 

While searching the ground for leaves, time and time again the canopy of trees lifted my thoughts upward. The interplay of afternoon light into twilight delighted the senses. I thought about the colorful biophotons emitted by trees, invisible to the human eye, but perhaps subconsciously experienced. The mix of shiny metallic foils and bright mural colors evokes the impression of colors visualized from light shining through the capillaries on the back of eyelids during meditation. I painted the mural circle of inter-connected trees to work with the gallery’s unique structure of beams heading to the central light fixture to create an intimate, inward-looking place to honor, process, and celebrate all the grand feelings and emotions I experienced outside.

 

I contemplated mythologies surrounding trees and how humans may have taken inspiration from their patterns to use in written symbols and language. Each leaf was given a unique pattern, which I then laid out to in a process that used pre-planned sketches and in-the-moment improvisation to make the various designs pinned to the wall with pins that suited each leaf.

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 I marveled at the exposed trunks of fallen trees, their concentric rings revealing a historic record of environmental conditions as divine as the sacred geometric pattern found in their leaves. The redwood logs were cut to specific sizes from trees that fell in Descanso Gardens during heavy storms.

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I invite the viewers to participate in creating their temporary works of art on the central pedestal made from provided plant materials from the fiber mats - as ephemeral as the daily changes within the cycles of the season. 

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