TREE TALK l Artists Speak For Trees

Tree Talk: Artists Speak For Trees

Thursday, September 24
10am PT, 11am MT, 1pm ET

The beauty and mystery of trees has long been a subject for artists, and more recently, concern for the survival of forests (the lungs of our planet) has been paramount. Each month, artists working in a diversity of media share their artworks and ideas about these most essential and extraordinary living beings. Additionally, guest speakers including scientists, writers and activists are invited to present their work and contribute to the dialogue.

Tree Talk is moderated by Sant Khalsa, ecofeminist artist and activist, whose work has focused on critical environmental and societal issues including forests and watersheds for four decades.
 
Co-sponsored by Joshua Tree Center for Photographic Arts

Members and one guest are free. General Public can attend for a $10. Capacity is 100 participants. All participants MUST REGISTER.

Special Guest Speaker:


Dr. Lindsey Rustad will discuss her role in the collaborative underground sound project with artist Nikki Lindt, and describe the importance of below ground processes in forest health and productivity. She will also introduce her outdoor laboratory, the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire, weaving in the magic of integrating art and science to make the unseen seen in our forests. Rustad is a Research Ecologist for the USDA Forest Service in Durham, NH, co-Director of the USDA Northeastern Hub for Risk Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change, Team Leader for the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in NH. She received a B.A. in Philosophy at Cornell University in 1980, an M.S. in Forest Science at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Sciences in 1983, and a Ph.D in Plant Science in 1988 at the University of Maine. Her areas of expertise include biogeochemistry, climate change impacts, advanced environmental sensor systems, and the integration of art and science. climatehubs

Image: Scientists create the first ever experimental ice storm at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, NH to study the impact of a changing climate on northern forests. Photo by Joe Klementovich. 

Member Presenters:

Marthe Aponte will talk about other types of relations including the intersections of personal, sacred, poetical and mythological narratives to represent trees in her work. She will also discuss how feminism shapes her practice. Aponte’s current practice focuses on “picoté,” an art form defined by delicate patterns and textures produced by piercing tiny holes in paper with a punching tool. She creates contemporary designs inspired by trees and the human body imbued with a touch of surrealism.

Aponte is a self-taught artist based in Lancaster, California. Born in France, she received a BA from Washington University in Saint Louis, a xmaster’s degree in Philosophy from Saint Louis University, and did doctoral work under the direction of the French philosopher Jacques Derrida at the University of California, Irvine. Her work has been exhibited in venues such as El Camino College Gallery in Torrance, Loft at Liz’s in Los Angeles, Quotidian in Los Angeles, Museum of Art and History (MOAH) in Lancaster, Metro Gallery in Pomona, Riverside City College Art Gallery, Launch LA, Latino Art Museum in Pomona, Six Street Gallery in Vancouver, among others. martheaponte.com

Image: Marthe Aponte, Tree Of Life, 2015, Picoté (piercing paper with an owl) and markers, 29 x 37 inches

 

Matthew David Crowther, for the last two years, has largely focused on trees and forests of parks and preserves within the city of Chicago. In this work, he attempts to find a new version of “nature” photography that focuses on the relationship between human and non-human life rather than holding nature as a separate, romantic ideal.

Crowther is a Chicago based artist, publisher, and educator. Born in Upstate New York, he received a BA from Fordham University and an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His work has been exhibited in venues such as the Colorado Photographic Arts Center, 516 Arts in Albuquerque, NM and Guest Spot in Baltimore, MD among others. Crowther’s work explores personal history, environmentalism, and contemporary culture. In addition to his own studio practice he teaches at City Colleges of Chicago and is the founder of Halfmoon Projects, a small press that publishes work by emerging artists. matthewcrowther.com

Image: Matthew David Crowther, The Preserve_5318, 2019, Archival Pigment Print, 40 x 60 inches

Nikki Lindt will present her long-term project on thawing permafrost and its effects on forests in Alaska. Her paintings, soundscapes and photographs reflect the duality of terror and inspiration when witnessing the struggle between the immense destructive power of climate change and the insistent nature of growth. Her work with climate scientists in the Arctic led her to scientist Lindsey Rustad with whom she is currently collaborating on a deep soil sound project in New Hampshire. In this project Lindt and Rustad study underground sound and its relationship to forest growth.

Lindt is represented by Robischon Gallery in Denver, and Heskin Projects in New York City. She has received the Pollack-Krasner Grant, the Dutch Artists Grant (Fonds BKVB) among others and has been awarded the Environmental Cultural Award, Milieudienst (Environmental Protection Agency) Amsterdam, Netherlands. Among her many projects focusing on the climate crisis and its effects on nature, people and our culture; Nikki Lindt is currently part of the Access Abisko team creating a multidisciplinary project at the Abisko Polar Field Station in Sweden studying natures’ influence on people. She received her MFA from Yale University. nlindt.com

Image: Nikki Lindt, The Trees Still Fell When We Were Not There to Hear Them, April 2020, Watercolor and acrylic on paper, 24 x 18 inches

Miranda Whall will introduce her very recent and current 'Staring’ practice, for example Staring at One Oak Tree for 100 Minutes at Night, A Film of An Oak Staring at a Film of Another Oak Tree for 100 Seconds, and others. These short and playful projects all lead intuitively on from each other over a short period of time; exploring the possibility of a non-hierarchical relationship between living things. Whall develops an economical, conscious, cultural, meditative, radical, transformative and socially engaged practice.

Whall studied at the Royal Academy Schools, London and Goldsmiths, University of London. She has been a full-time lecturer and the director of the Creative Arts Degree course at Aberystwyth University since 2006. She has exhibited her work internationally for many years and has been the recipient of many Arts Council England and Wales Grants and Residencies, she was awarded the Major Creative Wales Award in 2012 and in the same year was artist in residence in Spain, Turkey, Mexico, Thailand and Wales. Recent solo shows include Passage, at The Institute of Contemporary Interdisciplinary Art (ICIA) 2015 and Crossed Paths at Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown Wales, 2018. mirandawhall.space