How do you show the absence of a much loved thing? How can you express that it is missing and the loss you feel, when the object itself is no longer there? This was the challenge I came up against while creating this painting of a gum tree that was cut down at the end of Greeves street in Fitzroy. As a way to express this loss I decided to carve out the silhouette of the tree into a wooden board, creating literal absence, then paint the sky and street scene directly over the top creating the illusion of a ghost gum. This way the invisible becomes visible and the gum tree that was once there still exists, living on in our memory of the scene.
Mixed media and wood carving on board, 90 x 60cm.
I love this one, Daniel because I remember the tree and was saddened by its loss. This painting sums up the emotions that come from loss like this.
ReplyDelete