A Tree Full of Life

LOCATION:
Foyer Atrium Main Entry at Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Australia.

Commissioned by HARC for the Westmead Hospital Redevelopment Project

Medium: Powder coated aluminium

Dimensions: 13277 x 3421 mm

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"The symbolism of the Tree of Life extends to many cultures and traditions and it symbolises eternal life and strength. It also connects to the Hipocrates Tree, under which his knowledge was told, and very relevant in the context of a hospital.

But I would like connect those two powerful symbols with the Tree of Life in Biology. First proposed by Charles Darwin, it is a metaphor which expresses the idea that all life is related by common
descent, and visualises the evolutionary history of life. Ernst Haeckle has drawn a couple of magnificent examples of it.

Instead of showing only one grand tree -a single living organism, I would like to show many other species that inhabit a tree, and which are normally not perceived as they like to be camouflaged: insects. I would like to draw a multi specie tree, discreetly drawing instead of leafs, all sorts of insects that mimic plant life. Butterflies, grasshoppers, crickets, moths, caterpillars etc. Making visible the camouflaged inhabitants of a magnificent tree.

This large scale public art piece is a continuation of my series of Garden of Insects that Look Like Plants."

English