Juan Ford: Lord of the canopy

The act of reconstructing a full-sized eucalyptus tree within a gallery is an expression of both hope and futility; the tree looks and feels like a tree, but it cannot and will not ever grow again. To constrain it to the limited dimensions of a gallery space is a further attempt to subjugate a natural phenomenon to the confines of an artistic practice. But life is larger than art. It will always burst forth beyond us.

Incorporating an anamorphic possum ring and a large wall painting, visitors can look to see what the ring reflects, and ponder Juan Ford’s amalgam of rational and irrational references to ecology, subjugation of nature, absurdist metaphysics, and art history.