Secret Life of Trees 2/IV Painting

Secret Life of Trees is inspired by a months-long dialogue between a new friend and me, and is a second part of the larger series Conversations 8/VIII, 2015. For a moment or two, I got too absorbed into my friend's seeing of the world, so I had to 'reclaim my territory' somehow, and I did it the only way an artist could: by processing all new knowledge I acquired, and transforming it into the paintings. Or so I thought at the time: today, revisiting the cycle it is clear to me that the situation I was in gave me the much needed fuel to externalize my inner conflict, which resulted in a four-piece artwork in watercolor technique, very organic and colorful to the slightly hallucinating point, the same style our dialogue was. As I am no botanist, I will spare myself the shame of claiming to know exact facts about our ecosystem, and will approach to the topic from a personal point of view. It is a story of a symbiotic relationship between me and the universe, or to be more down to earth: with the environment I reside in, as well as a strive to conquer a personal fear of a deeper insight into my own emotional system. In the first painting of the cycle two trees are depicted, positioned in a way to show a close, and content relationship between them, the intense atmosphere enhanced by the bright colors. The scene looks perfect, almost idyllic: it speaks about reciprocity, and mutual understanding of the needs, two trees coexisting in the same place, where there is enough room for growth for both of them. This very saturated, but controlled explosion of colors is positioned above the white basis, a composition that adds to an already surreal feel of the painting. The other part of the series consists of a triptych, and it is actually an effort to evolve the narrative a bit further. It is a unit of three parts, that can be observed as one picture, while at the same time each piece can stand on its own. On the first one, the prevailing yellow of the trunk is contrasted with a violet hue, the color spreading and connecting all three paintings. The tree is standing proudly on its own ground, claiming the entire area for itself, the above earth branched part mirrored in an underworld of roots, pointing forwards to the right, to give a feel of a motion as it is usually comprehended in the western hemisphere. The white basis is still present, but this time it is in a relation with a section above that is also remained uncolored. Complex structure of details is resolved into a stable composition. As we move a little further, to the the Secret Life of Trees 3/IV, things start to get a bit more complicated. There is a tree-house like image on the left, turned upside down, where the top part is cut off and substituted with the white infinity of the paper, containing a small yellow rectangle, resembling a door of some kind, or a private passage to some inner space, while right next to it another image of a tree is positioned, this one being less formulated, and more free in its appearance. It is a meeting point of two worlds, where the rational and well regulated comes in touch with irrational, less known and messier, a permanent conflict of inner landscape. Despite all odds, the composition is still balanced. In the conclusive piece again just one tree is depicted. It is turned upside down, hanging from the violet patch that resembles a cloud, but if we read it in an upturned manner, it is the ground from where the brightly colored trunk grows. 'The irrational' has taken the entire space of the paper, defying all logic of the natural order, now bright and bold in its existence. I could go on and on about this particular watercolor cycle, because it is personally very dear to me, but this is not the place for it. If by any chance, Secret Life of Trees manages to bring understanding about how beauty can sometimes be born out of a discord, the purpose of this artwork will be fulfilled.

Painting:Watercolor on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:11.7 W x 16.5 H x 0.1 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.