This sculpture of a tree, was influenced by a poem. 

My Friend Tree

My friend tree
I sawed you down
But I must attend
An older friend
The Sun 

​

Lorine Niedecker 1903 – 1970 

 

Niedecker lived most of her life along the banks of Rock River, Wisconsin, and worked as a cleaning lady and assistant librarian. She is essentially a poet of place, and her work is pervaded with images of nature, in particular she most loved trees. 

The sculpture is made predominantly from driftwood branches that I collected from distant and diverse parts of the world: Borneo, Central America, Canada and Tanzania. Different pieces are jointed together in a semi-naturalistic form, but the piece finally transforms itself into a geometric or cubist tree. Perhaps a comment on the degradation of the world’s forests, or a reflection on how we look at nature, the sculpture is a re-assembly of differing forms, which seems to transcend itself into something that is enigmatic.