In response to a commissioned Woodland Management Plan, the Bexhill Highwoods Preservation Society has been removing some holly trees and removing the lower branches of others. The intent is to improve the biodiversity of the understory and the balance of tree species in the woodland.
As part of my residency, I want to create some physical work in the woodland with materials that are an intrinsic part of it and reflect upon the complexity of the network of systems in the natural environment. A blend of woodland management activities and artistic creation within a natural setting, linking environmental conservation and art. So, in between the rainy days and with the onset of milder weather, it’s time to go outside and make lines in the landscape.
Weaving a holly panel
I collected cut holly branches (many of which I had cut myself as a part of a work team) and using the remnants of the stump of a holly tree and adding some supporting stakes, I made a woven panel. It’s a bit rough – it has warp and weft but no formal purpose or structure except the desire to make lines. I am exploring using different materials to make lines in a woodland landscape. It is woven organically – the material decides where it can be used in the panel.
You can walk past the woven panel without noticing it. The woven holly blends into the holly background but if people notice it then maybe they will stop, look and wonder what it is and why it is there. Maybe it’s an incitement to think.
The panel is bound by the process of construction and by what surrounds it. It is a human construct with visible lines when you look. Like the woodland’s current form is due to human intervention, its continued existence depends upon human management.
Drawing Lines in the Woodscape
There are many approaches to drawing, particularly with a new medium or one you haven’t used in a while. You start by making marks – circles, squares, rectangles and, of course, lines. Often you do this on a material that is pre-used, recycled, or repurposed and you add another layer to existing stories.
So is this holly panel a drawing? It’s a representation of something that may have existed in a working woodland and now exists serving its function as an exploration of lines. It is a made line in the landscape, in common with all fences and barriers, yet this starts and ends at arbitrary points serving no obvious practical function. That alone asks questions.
A Palimpsest
Something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form
Bexhill Highwoods presents a landscape of layered stories – memories of how the woodland was used and managed are re-presented with new stories of recent usage. All spaces have layered stories and palimpsest. We think of woodland as natural spaces, but they are managed, and our `natural` spaces tell their stories of what went before. We just need to look and listen.
The fungi grow from the fallen trees, the mycelium thread through the earth; our woodlands are worked spaces and their stories are told in the soil and the trees. I intend to listen and present some of these stories through an artistic intervention.