honorable mention
Ellie Davies united kingdom
title
Between the Trees, 2013
‘A forest is what exists between its trees, between its dense undergrowth and its clearings, between all its life cycles and their different time-scales…A forest is a meeting place between those who enter it and something unnameable and attendant… Something intangible and within touching distance. Neither silent nor audible’. John Berger, 2007.
What is a forest? Is it the trees or is it the space that exists between them?
Between the Trees explores the nature and meaning of ‘Forest’ by considering the experience of standing alone inside the woods; the eerie and captivating sensation that time has slowed down and that the forest and everything within it exists in a different state from everything outside, somehow set apart from our usual perception of linear time. The wind drops, the air cools, all is quiet and still and the forest envelops us. To enter this other realm is to accept a slowing of time and a shift in perception.
Swirling, hanging and drifting smoke allows us to observe not only time moving at an almost imperceptible pace, but also to focus on the interior space that is very much part of ‘the forest’, guiding the eye away from the trees and allowing it to linger on this ‘betweenness’. Suspended and still, the smoke fills the spaces between the trees, and reflects our physical experience of these places: the palpable and brooding cognisance of the forest, the muffled and flattened sound, the prickling sense of heightened awareness. The ethereal mist fills the gaps to show the spaces between, as if we can slip through and escape the bounds of time.
John Berger in - ‘Hold Everything Dear: Dispatches on Survival and Resistance’, p.135-140 Verso, 2007.
Her work has been extensively exhibited in solo and group exhibitions worldwide, including recent solo shows in 2018 at A.galerie Brussels and Patricia Armocida Gallery in Milan, and has been featured in publications by Little Toller, Chelsea Green, Les Editions Ulmer Paris, Tangerine Press and Thames and Hudson. Recent interviews include National Geographic, The Guardian, Huffington Post, BBC Radio 3, and Aesthetica Magazine.
Davies recently launched her newest series ‘Fires, 2018’. Fires 2 has been selected Winner of the Urbanautica Institute Awards 2018: Nature, Environment and Perspectives. The Fires series was also voted Winner of the 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Award: Professional Landscapes and Seascapes category and the 12th Pollux Awards: Professional Fine Art Series Winner. There will be an Award Winner’s Exhibition for both competitions at Galerie Valid Foto in Barclona in early May 2019.
The Fires series is featured in Dodho Magazine Issue 7 and Rakes Progress, Issue 10 (forthcoming).
In 2018 Davies’ had solo exhibitions at A.galerie Brussels and Patricia Armocida Gallery in Milan. Her work was exhibited for the first time in India at Gallery 1AQ in New Delhi as part of India Arch Dialogue 2018: Moments in Architecture. Other solo exhibitions include Into the Woods at The Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre in Northern Ireland in 2017 and at Crane Kalman Gallery in London in 2016.
Davies’ work is held in private collections in the UK, the US, Central and Eastern Europe, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia and The United Arab Emirates. Recent publications include Le Magiciennes de la Terre: L’art et la Nature au Feminin by Virginie Luc and Arboreal, A Collection of New Woodland Writing.
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entry description
Between the Trees – Artist’s Statement‘A forest is what exists between its trees, between its dense undergrowth and its clearings, between all its life cycles and their different time-scales…A forest is a meeting place between those who enter it and something unnameable and attendant… Something intangible and within touching distance. Neither silent nor audible’. John Berger, 2007.
What is a forest? Is it the trees or is it the space that exists between them?
Between the Trees explores the nature and meaning of ‘Forest’ by considering the experience of standing alone inside the woods; the eerie and captivating sensation that time has slowed down and that the forest and everything within it exists in a different state from everything outside, somehow set apart from our usual perception of linear time. The wind drops, the air cools, all is quiet and still and the forest envelops us. To enter this other realm is to accept a slowing of time and a shift in perception.
Swirling, hanging and drifting smoke allows us to observe not only time moving at an almost imperceptible pace, but also to focus on the interior space that is very much part of ‘the forest’, guiding the eye away from the trees and allowing it to linger on this ‘betweenness’. Suspended and still, the smoke fills the spaces between the trees, and reflects our physical experience of these places: the palpable and brooding cognisance of the forest, the muffled and flattened sound, the prickling sense of heightened awareness. The ethereal mist fills the gaps to show the spaces between, as if we can slip through and escape the bounds of time.
John Berger in - ‘Hold Everything Dear: Dispatches on Survival and Resistance’, p.135-140 Verso, 2007.
about the photographer
Ellie Davies (Born 1976) lives in Dorset and works in the forests of Southern England. Her MA in Photography is from London College of Communication, 2008.Her work has been extensively exhibited in solo and group exhibitions worldwide, including recent solo shows in 2018 at A.galerie Brussels and Patricia Armocida Gallery in Milan, and has been featured in publications by Little Toller, Chelsea Green, Les Editions Ulmer Paris, Tangerine Press and Thames and Hudson. Recent interviews include National Geographic, The Guardian, Huffington Post, BBC Radio 3, and Aesthetica Magazine.
Davies recently launched her newest series ‘Fires, 2018’. Fires 2 has been selected Winner of the Urbanautica Institute Awards 2018: Nature, Environment and Perspectives. The Fires series was also voted Winner of the 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Award: Professional Landscapes and Seascapes category and the 12th Pollux Awards: Professional Fine Art Series Winner. There will be an Award Winner’s Exhibition for both competitions at Galerie Valid Foto in Barclona in early May 2019.
The Fires series is featured in Dodho Magazine Issue 7 and Rakes Progress, Issue 10 (forthcoming).
In 2018 Davies’ had solo exhibitions at A.galerie Brussels and Patricia Armocida Gallery in Milan. Her work was exhibited for the first time in India at Gallery 1AQ in New Delhi as part of India Arch Dialogue 2018: Moments in Architecture. Other solo exhibitions include Into the Woods at The Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre in Northern Ireland in 2017 and at Crane Kalman Gallery in London in 2016.
Davies’ work is held in private collections in the UK, the US, Central and Eastern Europe, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia and The United Arab Emirates. Recent publications include Le Magiciennes de la Terre: L’art et la Nature au Feminin by Virginie Luc and Arboreal, A Collection of New Woodland Writing.
back to gallery