By Jenny Zeller
Not only did we welcome visitors back to Bernheim this July, we also invited artists back to inspire us with the results of their total immersion with the landscape. With a shared mission of connecting people with nature, 2020 Bernheim Artist in Residence Lucy Azubuike strives to teach people how to find joy in the simple available forms in nature and bridge the disconnect between humans and our relationship to the natural environment.
Trained as a sculptor, multidisciplinary artist Azubuike documents nature as the sculptor, recognizing beautiful shapes and forms in the natural world as wholly complete works of art. Azubuike’s work ignites an emotional connection to the environment as her tree art discoveries often reflect and mirror the human world around us.
For the artist, these images evoke the ancestral adages of her proverb rich Nigerian Igbo culture, which she proudly shares with the viewer, inviting the extraction of their stories and traditions for connecting on a deeper level.
‘Alā bü Otu’ is an Igbo saying that when translated means the ‘earth is one’, but it also denotes that humans are the same regardless of gender, tribe, boundaries, religion or culture. We are nature. Nature is YOU!”
Through exposing the magic and wonders of the natural world, Azubuike attempts to connects us all through the worlds common humanity. One million translates to ‘agukata agba awahu’ in the Igbo language meaning uncountable or unlimited. With more than a million trees to discover at Bernheim, Azubuike’s first visit to Bernheim was filled with an overwhelming rush of inspiration and the realization that she can’t possibly capture them all by herself!
The artist invites you to participate in this quest by sharing your figurative tree art images at Bernheim (and far beyond!) on social media with the designated hashtag #onemilliontreearts
How to participate:
- Post your image to Facebook or Instagram
- Share a story behind the image (optional but encouraged)
- Tag your location and @bernheimforest
- Label with hashtag #onemilliontreearts
Established in 1980, Bernheim’s Artist in Residence program annually awards artists the opportunity to live and create site-specific work inspired by their total immersion experience at Bernheim. Throughout 2020, we will celebrate 40 years of this internationally renowned program that allows our visitors to experience nature in a new way while enhancing awareness of Bernheim’s mission of connecting people with nature through the lens of art.
