This mixed media sculpture contrasts the human made with the natural. I've been reading the excellent "The Hidden Life of Trees - What They Feel, How They Communicate" by Peter Wohlleben (2017). It's made me very sensitive to my perception of what the trees that I come into contact with on a daily basis are feeling. There is an unsettling ambiguity in the purpose of the cage. On the one hand, the structure may be providing the tree with crucial support that allows it to flourish and continue in its upward quest. On the other hand, the cage is limiting and restrictive, evocative of the Louise Bourgeois cell works. Not easy to draw because of the confusion between wire and wood. However, I just went with the flow and I was happy that the drawing captures something of the ambiguous feelings that this sculpture provokes. I know why the cage tree can be viewed 24 hours a day on the Pantiles in Tunbridge Wells.
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