Tree Climb (scorned as timber, beloved of the sky) records my attempt to climb a tree near my childhood home with a parasitic deformity caused by a condition known as witches’ broom.

This tree happens to resemble a painting by Emily Carr (referenced in the title), while the “lumberjack” jacket I wear speaks to a history of resource extraction and colonialism. In conversation with these historical references are the actions of the climb itself: a man clumsily climbs a tree, reaches a point at which he can go no further, and climbs down.

The hope is that the ambiguity of this climb alludes to a personal sensibility that’s misaligned with the artist’s cultural and historic inheritance. It’s through the tensions of these competing themes that I hope to reveal the subtle conflict between personal and national histories, and honour my personal relationship to the land upon which I was born and raised, and which I’ve enjoyed such an intimate relationship with throughout my life.