Queens of the Wood

Photograph Ewelina Ruminska, 2021

Photograph Ewelina Ruminska, 2021

Walk the long, narrow lines of needled pines and Douglas firs until you find the spot where the leaves drop and broadleaved temples circle together.  

Here, a sacred space is held by six queens of the wood, a closed canopy under which very little grows. They fill their circle-clearing with private communion, only peripherally aware of our human comings and goings as they stand deep in time, oblivious to our stumbling rituals and fleeting projections. 

We cannot enter. Instead, we may walk around their circle, seeking small portals through which to discover which queen deigns show her face to us. What do you glimpse out of the corner of your eye?

Photograph Ewelina Ruminska, 2021

About:

Pencil & ink on six sheets of paper, suspended | Created in the studio & en plein air | 2021

This work is inspired by a circle of beech trees; queens or mothers of the wood. It is a meditation on ritual and ceremony in the landscape. It was first exhibited in ‘Remember The Future’ at Orleans House Gallery, London.