Artists Statement 2019
“How we perceive and contemplate the land affects how we treat the land. If we see the land as separate from ourselves we are less likely to honour and respect it.” – Louise Fowler-Smith
Louise Fowler-Smith has been researching the Sacred Tree for the past decade and has found that the practice of venerating the Tree through decoration protects the Tree in countries such as India. Her research has led her to question whether it is possible for the artist to inspire a re-envisioning of the environment through the aesthetic; and whether sacredness can be transferred through artistic vision without transplanting any specific religious ideology.
Louise has exhibited her work nationally and internationally and has presented papers at numerous conferences, including the 2009 Land/Art Conference in New Mexico and the 2010 International Association for Environmental Philosophy Conference “Geo-Aesthetics in the Anthropocene”, both in the USA, as well as in France, Italy and the Netherlands.