THE TREE

 

 

“I discover myself here and now, seeing a tree standing alone.” 

 

A tree is one of the longest living things on earth. A tree never stops its growing against gravity, deeply taking root in the ground. A tree is always alone, and keeps its place all its life, adapting itself to the environment. The story a tree conveys becomes a mirror reflecting me here and now.

 

I imagined folks living in the clouds, when I read the fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk as a child. I recall my old memories of a tree with branches spreading heavenward and leaves as white and abundant as clouds. A scene of life is created with diverse voices in accord with many gestures, and clouds are hung in the air.   

 

Trees in photographs, planted and grown for some purpose, are individual objects resulting from artificial landscaping. A tree used for landscape architecture grows, shaped by trimming and propping it up with a support. As human are tempered by their parents, school education, and companions and live an ever-changing life, supporting one another, we see persons here and now in the trees used for landscaping. 

 

A tree in my work is found in our quotidian life, but not daily. The reason why it looks unrealistic is due to its color. A tree’s color is not fixed as I interpret the color with infinite gradation into one. That is why the tree image is not represented in visible light but infrared light. However, a tree is in reality like a person in daily life. 

 

I feel something new in changes hidden behind the visible. The tree testifies the rising and setting sun, the cycles of seasons, spring, summer, fall, winter, and again spring, and the memories of human life from prehistoric times to contemporary life.