The numerous worlds seen in abandoned wooden piles

New York artist Alison Moritsugu paints on abandoned tree stumps, each of which seems to open the door to the world, evoking people's protection of the environment while enjoying the wonderful scenery.

We can often see beautiful pastoral paintings in the classical paintings of the Baroque and Rococo period, and then the unscrupulous exploitation of human beings since the 19th century has made these beauties farther and farther away from us. Artist Alison Moritsugu creates paintings in the cross section of wood through the collision of art history and environmental consciousness, including beautiful pastoral scenery, vast forests, lakes and seas, mountains and rivers, etc., many works are designed to awaken people to protect the environment.

Born in Hawaii, Alison Moritsugu, surrounded by green trees and green mountains since childhood, may be influenced by the environment, she has an almost instinctive desire for beauty and nature. She has always dreamed of using painting to record and express the scenery in her heart.

In high school, she went to Washington and New York alone to study, squeezing out at least three hours a day for painting. Her diligent practice enabled her to receive sponsorship from the New York Art Foundation as a student during her school years.

When asked how to think of the stump as a canvas for painting, Alison replied: "my hometown of Hawaii is a wooded place, especially in my childhood memories." Now, because of industrialization and the continuous development of commercial real estate, Hawaii has become less green. After coming to study in the United States, I found that the situation here is worse than that in Hawaii. I often meet some elderly people who tell me that the gas station used to be a pond, that big supermarket used to be a forest, and so on. The memories of my childhood, the changes I witnessed and my personal experience made me want to do something in the form of art. So I began to draw on the stump, which is like a broken mirror that allows people to peep into the past with thick forests. "

"I hope these tree stumps and the paintings painted on them allow people to think about what we have left and lost in this land after the excessive deforestation brought about by industrialization," Alison said. Today's photos can be modified by computers, especially in travel advertisements, where the false dense forests and pure beaches make people think that wild nature still exists, but this is not the case. I deliberately chose to imitate the 18th and 19th century optimistic naturalistic painting on the tree stump, which must have a blue sky and green forests. Today, they are like memory fragments of a tree stump, fragmented. "

Speaking of where the wood for painting came from, Alison said, "either the old trees are blown down by the wind or the trees are cut down by people. I pay for them." Some of them are still very common in the past, but now very rare tree species, as an art carrier, more thought-provoking. "

Her works outline the scene brought about by the indiscriminate felling of trees, or make a strong contrast between the once beautiful scenery and the incomplete nature, hoping to arouse people's reflection. Create a mirror leading to the beautiful countryside on the cross section of the trees, express the complex relationship between man and nature and the environment with a strong contrast between the ruins and the beautiful pastoral scenery, and awaken people's awareness of environmental protection.

One stroke by one painting, the beauty of the trees that cut human beings back to the roots. Whether in exhibitions or media interviews, people praised her stump paintings, praising her creativity and combining art with the beauty of nature, but she said calmly, "I'd rather not paint these stumps. I'd rather they still grow in nature."

Alison Moritsugu's original intention is to remind human beings of the protection of nature, and she hopes that these works can make people think about what we have left and lost after excessive economic deforestation. At the same time, she turned the unattended tree stump into a piece of beautiful works of art.