Open Text, Waterloo ON. Stainless steel, steel, LED lights, electronics. 72″ x 72″. 2021.

Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid

The Breathing Tree is rear lit with soft glowing light that appears pinkish at the top and blueish at the bottom, perhaps evoking a tree at sunrise or sunset, reflected in water. If we tip our view slightly, we can see the reflected tree as a set of lungs. In intervals, the LED lights becomes slightly brighter, stays bright, then slightly dims, and stays dim, then repeats the cycle. As the light subtly and gently brightens and dims, it provides a gentle visual cue to the viewer to inhale and exhale with the changing light. The sculpture takes the viewer through a short, grounding, breathing meditation. As a testament to the lives lost from COVID-19, it gives us an introspective moment with nature, grounding us in our own breathing and our own lived moment where life, loss, love, grief, and resilience are inextricably bound. The brilliance of the stainless steel and the saturation of the coloured light remind us of the beautiful deep sacrament that is this living moment we share.

Commissioned by Open Text, Waterloo ON to mark the impact COVID-19 has had on their employees.

Dedicated to my fun loving and generous friend Kohei Nagano, 1966 – 2020

Press feature story: https://brocku.ca/brock-news/2022/03/visual-arts-prof-creates-public-art-reflecting-themes-of-covid-19-pandemic/

Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid

Photo: Toni Hafkenscheid

Photo: Jimmy Limit