(im)Permanent Trees

I began noticing nature carefully since moving to a rural part of the country. When I lived in a city, I took nature for granted. I don’t think I ever truly appreciated the beauty of nature.    

In this series, I tried to express the transient aspect of nature. Needless to say, the depicted images of tress are symbolic and rhetorical. I intentionally arranged sculptural pieces as “props” and documented them as temporary installations to emphasize impermanency. Two-dimensional works can be seen as either temporary or more permanent depending on the individual beholder.  

​While trees come in many shapes and sizes, I saw them as a metaphor for different stages in life. Some are at the beginning stage of life, whereas others are at end.  Regardless of which stages the tree is in, its characteristics and strengths are no doubt beautiful.  

​-Yukio Kevin Iraha