Initially Into the Forest print was meant as a celebration of the beauty of forests and the joy we experience being in them. The shifting light and shade properties influenced my design concept of using shadow patterns to represent trees.
This also referenced my experiences as a wood block printmaker, where choice of what to cut out and what to leave is a constant concern. The changing dynamic of positive and negative shapes could also indicate moving between worlds-perhaps the real world of nature and the world of the imagination.
In addition it was my experience of living next to a beautiful Sand Bangalay forest full of gums, wattles and banksias, and all the life they contain.
This changed on NYE when bushfires burnt most of the forests surrounding my home at the South Coast of NSW. As I watched flames burning up the trunks of gum trees 50 metres from my house, I wondered how the trees experienced this horror.
Now on reflection, I observe those patterns of dark and light as mental and emotional states. However with rain this week, we are reminded to have hope and to watch for signs of new life.
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| Katherine White Into the Forest (Foreground Marli Popple Crown) |
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| Katherine White Plant Life |
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