Forests are landscapes with rich mythological histories. From the ancient times of animism, in which trees were believed to be gods, to pantheism, in which trees were believed to house gods and spirits, to multiple cultures considering woodlands to be sacred spaces, forests have been portrayed as part of the natural world having spiritual significance for man.
Such spiritual significance is demonstrated throughout art history, in which the landscape has been used as a metaphor for God. The different appearances of the art works depend on which interpretation of God is being referenced. There is God the benevolent Creator and source of all life, the God of wrath and fury, the distant God who set the natural laws in motion and allows them to play out, and more.
The forest landscape as God in my work is primarily a vibrant environment in which humans move freely and with ease. This is where man’s spiritual essence, unencumbered by physicality, lives and moves and has its being. Though the visualization of such woodland spiritual activity may seem eery at first, the realization of man’s place in nature takes hold, as one embarks on A Walk in the Woods.
