Why is this tree caged?

Robert displayed his work Elk [BrOKen COlumN] Cedar with the orange door gallery in Ucluelet BC, during the month of August.

This was a particularly exciting place to display this piece as the work heavily responds to the land on which it was created. The Elk Cedar is a real tree standing in Tofino which is now the last Old growth tree in the town. This often forgotten or overlooked vestige of what used to be a mighty forest of ancient trees can now act as a symbol for the lived trauma experienced by the land we are occupying.

With the root of most of my dance and movement work being in understanding and treating trauma in the body, it was only natural to look at the life and work of Frida Kahlo. To know Frida’s life and work is to know that she not only created work reflecting her trauma but it was also often the mechanism for creation itself.

I have always been particularity struck by Frida’s work “Broken Column”. This self portrait depicts Frida painted onto a simple landscape with the focus being on the giant cement column that now replaces her spine. The painter renders herself with a crying expression and nails that puncture her skin and scatter the environment.

If you have ever visited the Elk Cedar tree in Tofino, you might find yourself perplexed at first and asking the question- “Why is this tree caged”? The Elk cedar standing tall but maybe not mighty is braced around the trunk by metal rings connected to large metal cables. These cables anchor the tree to the ground which effectively prohibits the last dying old growth to fall. This tree does not look “happy” or like its being preserved but rather restrained and absent of the agency and option to fall.

Every time I look at this tree I can’t help but see the parallel between it and the previously mentioned Broken Column portrait. The two resemble each other visually but also seem to share a history of pain, trauma, and resilience.

My goal in creating Elk [BrOKen COlumN] Cedar was to create a rendering of the Elk Cedar tree that referenced the aesthetics and context of Frida’s portrait. The end result is a pastel portrait of the bound tree looking out at a harbour sunset. The tree personified weeps a single tear, afraid it will never be afforded the dignity to fall as all its contemporaries have before it.