Trees Are Sanctuaries Art Print

This art print is part of my Cultural Memory Series. The series explores the intersection of word and image and the amalgamation of personal and collective stories that become the cultural narratives that shape our selfhood and belonging. By embedding iconic text with original artwork, the project challenges the boundaries between public heritage and private memory, and functions as a cultural critique to how shared memories are controlled by legal authorities and borders. 

The extracted text is from Hermann Hesse's Wanderung; Aufzeichnungen (1920) [Wandering: Notes and Sketches, translated by James Wright (1972)], which is in the public domain in its original language. In this image, I use a soft colour scheme to honour Hesse's mature wisdom. I contrast this wisdom (as well as its source, the sacred tree) with the innocence of a young child who naturally already knows Truth. Through the repetitious action of hand-lettering, the process of artistic creation becomes an act of sacred ritual, a reclamation of both my personal voice and my bond with the text’s original author.

By making the print available for purchase, the artwork further functions as a piece of economic activism, challenging capitalism and its institutionalised “hierarchy of value”.