Frames on trees.
May 2026.
project details
| For | Het Onzichtbare Zichtbaar, Amsterdamse Bos |
| Type | Installation |
| Status | Submitted |
There is suffering. We only need to slow down and pay attention. This is hard to do when we are suffering ourselves. We have wounds that need healing and scars that remind us of past suffering. Sometimes, life requires us to do both caring for another and healing oneself simultaneously; an onerous task.
Look around at trees for inspiration. They care for life of all forms by providing oxygen, food and shelter while engaged in a fight against disease, decay and death. Microorganisms, mould and insects are all vying to get into the tree and harvest its nutrients. The tree has built defences against such attacks. Sometimes a tree gets wounded either through natural causes or by a deliberate action of another organism. It takes measured steps to live through this trauma.
Trees have a 2-prong approach when inflicted by a wound — a first, quick response filled with chemical discharge to ward off disease and a latter, long term response focused on rebuilding tissue and longevity. Beronda Montgomery shares insights into the incredible perseverance of trees in her book Lessons from Plants. Her observations have lead to a lesson — recovery starts with attentive care, followed by closure and finally redirecting energy to find new paths forward. The goal is to strive for a good life despite our trauma.
This work titled ‘everybody hurts’ is an attempt at making the invisible trauma of others visible. This is done by placing the trauma of trees in the frame, both literally and figuratively.
kashyap krishna 