For this installation, I wanted to take the feeling of being in a birch forest and bring it into the gallery-- the look, the sounds, the way light filters down to you... This idea began over a year ago, while I was in Michigan working with Meadow Brook Theatre. I had this clever notion to make paper birch trees out of paper. It worked to a point, but the "trees" didn't really stand up on their own. They felt they needed to be a part of something larger. I came back to the idea during my residency with ISLAND (Institute for Sustainable Learning, Art, & Natural Design) in 2011, when I was actually in a place that had birch forests. It wasn't just the beauty of the trees that kept coming back again and again to capture my interest, but the stillness of the forest, the bird sounds, summer cicadas, wind rustling through the branches, and the crunch of leaves under my feet. This over-all "feeling" of a forest lodged its self somewhere in the back of my mind, lurking in wait for that perfect opportunity to be realized.
Finished wall, a job well done.
Now onto the trees....
Starting to look like a forest...
And, artist talk... go.
I would just like to point out that that older man in the red shirt has a leaf on his shoulder from where we were earlier throwing them in the air like children.
I'll have photos from the opening and final installation for you asap!
