Achi news desk-
Combining nature, art and science came to fruition with today’s collaborative stick weaving project.
At the How To Draw A Tree Wellness Circle on Johnston Green at the University of Guelph, people were invited to join artists Dawn Matheson and Agnes Niewiadomski to create a sculpture made out of sticks.
Trees saved Matheson’s life. She has her own challenges with mental health but being with trees in nature relaxes her and calms her mind.
“It’s just a practice I’ve developed. It’s my foundation,” he said.
She wanted to bring a little about what fuels her creativity and helps her mental health to the public with this art project.
The process of the sculpture will continue to unravel over the next few weeks as people add sticks to it. About 50 people turned out for the event on Wednesday.
The sculpture will eventually be used as a set piece for a play presented by Guelph College Vocational Institute (GCVI) students.
“Our idea is always, challenge yourself to try something you’re not used to,” said Gerard Gouchro, professor and minor head of arts at GCVI. Students came to help create pieces of art as part of the sculpture.
The project arose from an idea to get people engaged with the welfare circle. An art project called How To Draw A Tree was created by Matheson four years ago. Even though the project is finished he hopes people will still engage with him.
The team behind the project is a mix of artists, sound composers, students, poets, ecopsychologists and more. They created audio walks. People can take a guided tour of the Arboretum while listening to artists talk about their relationship with trees.
There are four guided audio walks on site and each person has a tree planted in the wellness circle they connected with while working on the project.
The stick sculpture will be a work in progress. There will be a sign that reads that anyone is welcome to add a stick to the statue. “It will become a community sculpture based on real processes, it may be destroyed, which is fine by me. I’m a process-based artist, there’s no end product,” says Matheson.
Most of the materials used for weaving sticks are sticks from trees in the Arboretum that were pruned in the winter. Instead of the material being put into a chipper “this was a great opportunity to share it here for this project,” said Justine Richardson, director of the Arboretum.
Matheson hoped that with very little instruction people would feel free to add sticks to the sculpture wherever they saw fit.
“It’s kind of coming alive to see everyone’s contributions. I’m very impressed,” said Niewiiadomski.
Trees are the ultimate improvisers; they move to wherever the sun is, says Matheson. Trees are good listeners and you can’t experience much rejection from them.
“There are two parallel crises which are the biggest crisis in the world at the moment. And that is mental illness and a climate crisis,” he said. This is what the project is all about.
Researchers from the U of G will study the art project and give feedback to see how beneficial it is to create a connection between people and the earth.
The question that runs through Matheson’s mind is; how do we gather life and creativity from trees but also give back to nature?
The art piece will be up for the next few weeks on Johnston Green and people can contribute by adding their own sticks.
Ad blocking test (Why?)
Source link
The post Collaborative art project highlights artistic and healing properties of trees – GuelphToday appeared first on Canada News Media.
