Outdoor Collaboration, 2016
Spirit of the Tree
Collaboration with Maria Ojeda, Madelyn Tucker, and myself.
4 x 4 x 7' | 2016
The spirit of the tree contains all of its neighborly inhabitants. Out of the shifting trunk emerges wide maws with yellowed teeth. Feathered friends busily weave nests from strings caught between the straight yellow rows. Behind the yawning jaws are sockets, mistaken for a convenient burrow by humble rabbits. One or two of the half-formed heads have developed eyes in their sockets, and watch the little ones work with mild interest. But among the fur, feathers, and bark is another kind of inhabitant with smooth skin. They climb down from the limbs to join the others, small and uncovered. They hang from the leaves and peak about curiously into burrows and nests, causing mischief among the neighbors. Having no hovel of their own, the strangers imitate the others by making their own unfamiliar constructs, all the while being watched. The spirit follows their on-goings with many cautious eyes.