Pando
I am grateful for the opportunity to reengage with my drawing practice through the offer of a commission from my friend and studio mate Richard. His fascination with natures patterns, structures and forces lead him to choose four ancient trees as the subject of the commission, the Llangernyw Yew of North Wales, Methuseleh California, Old Tjikk in Sweden, and Pando, Colarado.
Each are quite different in appearance and warrant individual study, but let’s consider one astounding common aspect, their age. It’s hard to comprehend the youngest of these is around 4-5,000 years, and the eldest 80,000, one of the oldest living organisms on the planet. They are themselves living monuments, their very existence testimony to their own endurance, adaptability and survival strategies.
These strategies are embodied in the physicality of the trees themselves. The Yew has its lattice of leaves twigs and branches trapping the sun, the sheer mass and solidity of Methuseleh, the slender line of Old Tjikk and the explosive energy of Pando, all reflect a different dance between tree and environment, one drawing life from the other, balancing the conditions that sustain it.
During Art school I became aware of how the physicality of things can trigger and lead our emotions. The intimacy created through small things, and the awe of the lofty, I found the works of Constantine Brancusi and Anish Kapoor elevating and poignant, not surprising considering the power and elegance of Bird in Space and the infinite interior depth of Void Field