Prue MacDougall has turned her watchful and whimsical gaze towards the innate power of trees. Utilising Greek Mythology, she is urges us to think about the essential roles that trees and forests play in our lives and psyches.
MacDougall’s close connectivity to nature comes from a life-long love of gardening. She acknowledges the beauty and visually arresting character of plants and trees, but also considers trees as both symbols and living organisms. Concerned about changing climates, the devastation wrought by global deforestation and shrinking biodiversity, MacDougall’s diorama takes us on a walk through a forest guided by narrative threads.
The Greeks have believed for millennium that nature is positively alive with the spirits that reside there, and so does MacDougall. The serenity that comes from sitting beneath a tree on a pleasant afternoon or your racing heart beat felt in a dark forest at night are not random emotions. The trees are truly alive with more than you may prefer to believe. According to legend, the ability to inspire strong emotions was the gift of the dryads. Everywhere they and their fellow nymphs existed, they were able to touch humans with this gift.
Fascinated by the myths of Nymphs and Dryads, Prue has incorporated female deities are into the intaglio photopolymer prints dramatizing the intricate architecture of branch and root systems. As spirits of the wilderness, the nymphs and birds are protective of the forests and other beings, kind to those in need reminding us of our better nature.
A celebration of the wonder that lies in our everyday experience, here to view in miniature, in our Hidden Wall Gallery.
