Tree of Life: a testament to endurance
TVS Founder and President, Louise Fowler-Smith was selected to include work in Gavin Wilsons Curated Exhibition, TREE OF LIFE: a testament to endurance at the S.H.Ervin Gallery in Sydney.
As stated by the Curator,
As we cautiously emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, humanity is faced with a stark reckoning. The concept for TREE of LIFE is the central motif that signifies the challenges we face. What remains of the natural world is the one beacon in a perilous age of drought, fire, floods and plague, exacerbated by the constant reality of climate change. The recent horrific fire season experienced across the country will go down as the greatest extinction event for Australian wildlife and habitats since Colonisation.
To temper an already dangerous overreaction to the vexed issues of hazard reduction, tree thinning and further rampant land clearing, this major exhibition led by First Nations artists will generate a fresh, positive energy towards the reclamation of diminishing natural resources. Threads woven through TREE of LIFE will recognise the deep spiritual and physical associations that connect all forms of life: Life that must be nurtured as we chart a course of action through this perilous age of climate change, pandemics and wildfires.
Louise included two works from her ‘Tenacious Trees of the Australian Desert’ series. These artworks focus on trees found predominantly in the arid zone of far western NSW, particularly trees and bushes such as the Mulga, with its umbrella like form and isolated existence. Known to require very little water to survive, the Mulga is a testament to endurance.