There are more than 3 trillion trees on Earth, meaning there are 422 times as many trees as people. But that number is half the amount as existed at the beginning of human civilisation, with many cleared for agriculture and urban development. This destruction has accelerated since the Industrial Revolution, and in 2017, one football pitch worth of forest was cut down every second. Yet, they are amongst the most important things on our planet, bringing down temperatures in town and cities by up to 5 degrees; absorbing carbon dioxide; improving physical and mental health; and providing habitats for countless plants, animals and insects. They are, put simply, integral to sustaining life on earth.
The Photographers’ Gallery presents Roots, a group exhibition that brings together eight internationally acclaimed artists whose work explores trees as the source of origin, memory and belonging. Through photography and mixed media, the show considers how trees are powerful symbols of the places, cultures and histories that shape who we are. Across different global landscapes, the plants symbolise cultural heritage, home and collective memory, and act as witness to the passage of time and the lives lived among them. Artists including Chrystel Lebas, Gohar Dashti, Julie Cockburn, Ingrid Weyland, Michael Kenna, Miho Kajioka and Paul Cupido presents works that reveal the relationships between people and place.
Julie Cockburn is best-known for embellishing and altering found photographs, immaculately adding hand-embroidered shapes to vintage portraits and landscapes. It’s a craft she’s been honing since childhood, producing works that employ cubist marks, gradient outlines and geometric stamps. In this show, Cockburn adorns blossoms trees, making each individual flower stand out from the page, bringing the vibrancy of a spring day to life. In another image, colourful circles dangle from branches, almost like party decorations. There is a joyfulness to her works, simply reminding viewers that nature, and particular the fleeting moments that only appear seasonally, are something to be celebrated.
Ingrid Weyland uses her platform to highlight the destruction of our natural landscape. Topographies of Fragility sees the artist manipulate, alter and enact “violent gestures,” contorting images until the landscape becomes something different altogether. Her images are made by crumpling photographs of natural scenery, taken by the artist across the world, before photographing the destroyed image again. The artist explains: “I suddenly realised that the act of crumpling my works on paper had taken on the role of symbolising our human manipulation of nature. My images are possible as they exist on the pulp of paper that was once a tree…the creased paper represents our destructive marks on the landscape.”
In this show, the cypress tree is taken as a symbol of resilience and cultural identity. The Japanese Sakura cherry blossom signifies the fleeting beauty of life and the hope of renewal. Trees from childhood are revisited and forests reveal hidden histories. Trees become a way to remember and reflect on the fragile relationship between us and the natural world. The artists featured are disparate in their styles and creative methods, but together, they reveal how trees continue to shape our history, memory and culture.
Roots is at The Photographers’ Gallery, London from 18 September – 15 November: thephotographersgallery.org.uk
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
1. Chrystel Lebas, Regarding Forests.
2. Michael Kenna, Heidodan Sakura Tree.
3. Julie Cockburn, Pink Tree.
4. Michael Kenna, Spring Poplar Trees.
5. Julie Cockburn, Crop.
