Arborventions

In 2007 I was part of an international environmental art residency at I-Park in East Haddam Connecticut. For my part, i looked to the trees. Healthy trees with luxuriant canopies are often the focus of many poems, paintings, and photographs, but i am interested in those that have a sadder history. I look to those that have been struck by lightning or have succumbed to the sawyer beetle or have picked up the microbe that causes oak wilt. I find poignant beauty in the galls, splits, and weeps.

I identified three trees that clearly had some history and went to work building wooden bracing cages for them. The braces purport to be orthopedic braces for the trees, but they also call attention to the scars, grown-over injuries, and memories of years past.