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E vo l v i n g  s e r i e s

 

 

 

 

The body of work from my 1990 solo show at Linden Gallery entitled, 'Evolving' represented my personal and intense relationship with the self, following the sudden death of my father and impending birth of my first child. While grieving the loss of a parent and adjusting to the imminent birth of my firstborn, I began to work with a more archetypal and symbolic approach to image-making.

 

 The tree emerged in my work as an icon and feminine symbol of life and death. It represented my interior experience of growth and also the universal and human experience of growth through understanding and self-awareness. The tree was a feminine symbol, with periods of creativity and infertility. I depicted it as human in form; an entity that needs light from above (self-knowledge) and sustenance from below (the unconscious) to grow and hence, evolve.

 

By representing the tree and female body as one symbol of the life cycle governed by seasons I was exploring an idea of the human journey with its periods of growth and infertility. By using the image of tree, I was playing with the visual metaphor that we also need light from above (self-knowledge) and sustenance from below (the unconscious) to grow and hence, evolve.