After Willow
Sasha Ballon
After Willow
Sasha Ballon
Reference
SAS0155_003
Year
2022
Dimensions (cm)
Height: 75
Length: 30
Depth: 23
Length: 30
Depth: 23
Materials
reclaimed willow tree, danish oil
Current Location
glasgow
Suitable Locations for the Work
- Indoors
- Outdoors
- Floor-based
- Freestanding
- On a plinth
Background, history, commissioner of the work
'After Willow' is one of a series of chainsaw carved pieces within my Wood Structures collection. I've gathered wood from job sites I’ve worked around Glasgow working as a tree surgeon. I wanted to breathe new life and bring value to these trees that would have been discarded into a landfill or chipper. My chainsaw carvings take on figurative qualities while never being exact replicas, letting the natural bark and curvature of the tree remain.
Thematic/contextual information
This body of work was the cumulation of research into women and trades and the impact of creativity and physical labour. I introduce a notion of softness within industrial materials to explore what it means to hold strength outside of binary. Suzzane Simmard, Canadian scientist, made the discovery that trees from different species would support each other when it provided them no gain. It was care not competition which ensured survival of the forest.