TREE SHADOW: We are all a piece of a bigger forest. (2 meters x 4 meters x 50 cm) Proposal for Aichi Children's Center, 2009, unrealized.

SUMMARY: An international artist team will lead a group on an excavation whose purpose is to explore and use what is available to create a new understanding of our relationship with Nature. The group will outline and dig out the main shadowed area of a tree in the near vicinity of the Aichi Children's Center. The excavated "Tree Shadow" will serve as an adventure into the earth, a passage way where children can experience what lies beneath the surface.

After walking in the "Tree's Shadow", feeling the soil and gathering tangible inspirations like branches, leaves and earth, we will return into the A.C.C. and create a collective tree collage. The "Tree Shadow" image will have been enlarged and graphed so that each participant will receive an outlined printed portion of the tree image. Parents and children will then draw from a broad range of objects (both found and recycled) to create a collage, that when displayed together depicts the complete "Tree Shadow" image. Once a tree has been completed, a new series of "Tree Shadow" prints will begin. During the duration of the exhibition, a small forest of collective creativity will sprout from within the Aichi Children's Center.

TREE SHADOW: We are all a piece of a bigger forest. (2 meters x 4 meters x 50 cm) Proposal for Aichi Children's Center, 2009, unrealized.

How often do we take time to acknowledge the natural sculptures that exist around us everyday, like a tree? Or the simple poetic elegance of a shadow? Join Chilean born artist Ximena Elgueda and American born artist Steven Ward on an exploration. Through a hands on approach they will lead a group of children and parents to look within, and to experience everyday nature with a new appreciation.

The process begins with a talk and walk with the artists through the local landscape. The group will convene at a prominent tree in the near vicinity of the Aichi Children's Center. Together we will proceed to map the most defined outlined shadow patterns of the tree's main trunk and branches. Then we will proceed to dig out a pattern from the tree's shadow ( approximately 2 meters x 4 meters). The digging will be shallow enough for children to enter (max 50 cm), yet careful not to affect the root system of the tree. The dug out walls will be reinforced with half sliced bamboo stakes to ensure the form will not erode over the course of the exhibition. (If a tree is not available, the participants will outline an imaginary "Tree Shadow" with branches, leaves and other natural objects.) *A photo of the "Tree Shadow" will be documented, enlarged and graphed for the inside phase of the exhibition.

After the excavation of the "Tree Shadow" participants will be encouraged to gather inspiration from leaves, rocks and earth and return with them inside to create a collage. Upon entering the "Tree Shadow" exhibition room at A.C.C., participants will numerically receive an A4 size printed paper with a charted section, like a pixel segment, of the larger tree image. Each participant will be responsible for filling in their printed portion of the larger "Tree Shadow". Even if one did not go outside to experience the "Tree Shadow", there will be a wide pallet of materials (both natural and recycled) to choose from in creating your contribution to the collective tree image.

The beauty of this project is that we all dig with our bare hands into the earth together. We might see the same tree differently, yet together we can make a very unique expression. And finally how, each person's picture can contribute to make a larger picture complete. It is true, that the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

After the exhibition is complete, the "Tree Shadow" will be properly filled in, and all of the tree collages that were made from recycled materials, will return to recycled material. No waste.