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Artist Statement

I use a narrative of social concern to engage dialogue. My works convey my comments on ecological destruction and renewal; they present the value of nature’s provision of trees. Nature’s resource of trees provides for oxygen, lumber for human shelter, air pollution mitigation, carbon capture, limitation of soil erosion, city cooling as well as small animal and avian refuge via the arboreal canopy. These are by-products of photo-synthesis: climate restoration through the normal life cycle of trees. I enjoy the physicality of materials. I am fascinated by found matter; following that inclination, I am presently using twigs from neighboring gardens and parks to construct fictions of trees, stumps and logs; they are not renderings but reinterpretations of living forms. I do not alter the original color of the sticks; I thoughtfully select naturally occurring colors to synthesize the images. I glue them to a constructed armature and complete the attachment with an overlay of medium. The placement of the cross-cut sticks forms a veneer. Pattern ritualizes the form allowing modifications which embellishes the original observation from which it emerged-the woods. Swirls and concentric curves are apparent, reminiscent of goddess culture motifs. Like human skin, bark conforms to a tree. Like skin, tree bark heals with scars. The end grain of logs notes the distortions in the growth rings resulting from injury-a callus. It is similar to the swelling around a cut in human flesh. Fallen branches and twigs are fragments of trees and are ephemeral. Constructing a sculpture alluding to a living tree with these waste pieces (relics) is a form of incantation-a poetic activity. An antidote to contemporary land development which appears to care more for denuding the landscape of trees in favor of barren parking lots and massive concrete and glass structures which are impervious to seed penetration and promotes tree removal.

www.georgelorio.com