Albino tree, 2015
Albino tree was a solo work that consisted of working with material that appeared to me as a mass of time.
A specific tree was dissected that had been outside the house I grew up in most of my life. A being that had been a steady point to me but then turned into something else once it was cut down. I decided to contemplate on the flesh of it - to dissect what was left of it’s being. In the process of the artwork I followed visions I had, as well alongside an intensive research that was done whilst I took the tree apart. The outcome appeared as a none-linear narrative that consisted of performing certain rituals repeatedly.
These actions were performed in three parts and documented. The first one was to cover a part of the tree in white. Stating that the being of the tree had disappeared. Alongside that process, ideas and research on a certain type of tree - called Albino Redwod (which is sometimes talked about as the ghost of the forest). This type of a tree is technically not supposed to have the abilities to survive in the wild due to the fact that it is unable to produce clorophyll, resulting in their pale white or yellow needles. This is caused by a genetic mutation. I started seeing the parts of the tree I had covered in white as the ghost (absence) of the being I had decided to work with.
The second set of actions created for the work was repeatedly performing the act of carving a pattern with a knife in to the branches I had covered in white. Depicting the rythm of time with each cut a drawing was made into each object - showing what was left of the trees life. As each cut revealed a green color that then slowly faded away inside the exhibition room. All the videos shot of those actions were deliberately overexposed to underline the ghost- like being.
The third set of actions was drawn with blood. Each stroke a one take action - one movement. Trusting the one take only. The blood was to show life as well, but on the other hand it was as well a symbol for death. For me it was to show the tree’s connection to nature and the bestial side of man.
The work itself is thus a un-linear narrative in three mediums. The photograph is thought of as an intro and carries the feeling of stepping into the process of taking the tree apart while the videos show actions that are meant to reflect the life and death of that being. The photograph is a print from a 35mm bw film, printed in the dimensions 90x60cm, showing a foot stepping on the ground - as if stepping in to a hole, entering an altered state of thy self.