Louise Farrell
Guilded Phalanx
2001-2002
Plastc, paint, copper leaf
Copper Beech

Although they are the marks of a mortal illness, I find the carved hollows and crevices in this magnificent copper beech very beautiful. I have embellished these areas with a swarm of bustling and ornamental, but perhaps deadly, creatures.

These insect-like pods represent, for me, irrepressible life and unstoppable energy. Their eye-catching coatings of copper leaf and their large scale draw attention to their presence and their work of transformation. This artistic infestation reminds us that, without malice, Nature's army simply goes about her work, breaking down tired, unhealthy areas and producing fertile mediums for new growth. The death of this tree supports a thriving colony, with a beauty of its own. When the life of this colony is over, some other form of life will move in. Life and death are connected, part of a natural cycle, a continuing process.

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