Instructor:
Many of us learned to draw a tree in elementary school: a straight trunk with a flared base, topped by a cloud-like shape representing a mass of leaves. But this doesn’t really capture what a tree looks like, or how it changes over seasons and years. In this course, we’ll explore how people have tried to catch a tree in time, why they have been motivated to do so, and what this might reveal about how people have perceived the role of trees in our environment. We will look at visual representations of trees in paintings, drawings, botanical illustrations, and photographs, but also read poetry that endeavors to capture a tree in a single moment. We will explore attempts to preserve trees as skeleton leaves and through tree-ring prints. Examining the practices of topiary, espalier, and bonsai, we will consider efforts to shape a tree in a fixed form for aesthetic ends. Throughout the course we will also experiment ourselves with capturing trees in various artistic mediums.