This piece was created after I revisited some artwork I had done in the past. I noticed there were many images of trees. Most were created when I was going through a difficult time in my life. The trees are each very different and I found aspects of myself and my developmental path were revealed in their color, line, shape and even the mediums I had chosen. Wanting to explore the archetype of the tree further for myself, I chose to invite a trusted community to observe and then create responses to the trees. I asked them to simply look at the trees and create a visual and/or written response reflecting what they saw and felt. The archetypal tree represents strength, life and growth. The responses from the group reflected these attributes.
The next step in this process was to create a new tree: incorporating my responses with those from the group. The image that came to me was a figure of a woman: her body as a trunk, her arms and head extending into branches and her toes reaching into the roots. Creating this piece allowed me to let go of some of the painful experiences reflected in the past images and incorporate past and present into a tree that reflects where I am now and my continuing process of growth.