The Spirit of Trees 

Linked to the changes of the seasons, the impermanence of time and its infinite manifestations, are veiled, subtle, present in their exuberance. This fascination with nature, with trees, their variations, diversities, species in the wanderings of life found an explanation in Yoruba culture of which I am a late devotee in Umbanda. In this belief, certain types of trees are inhabited by enchanted spirits, which are not exactly gods, but entities similar to the elves of medieval Europe and the hamadryads of ancient Greece, nymphs who were born and lived inside trees, responsible for the fate of their homes, rewarding and punishing humans according to their behavior. Iroko is the tree, is the Orixá tree, the home of Orixá… The bark of different trees at a certain period of the year insinuates shapes, colors and structures that, mirrored as in the Rorschach test, reveal spirits, enchanted, ghostly figures. All images express a moment in time and are enhanced with videos pulsing, breathing in and out… These dreamlike images contrast with previous works in paintings, drawings, collages and engravings with a sociopolitical nature…. The expression and suffering of the human condition or in the criticism of collages about excessive consumption and commodification.

This project started around 2015 and took shape as I took more photos and studied and analyzed the results I obtained more and more, with other tools I managed to reach the results shown below.