Margaret’s “angel tree” works were painted in honour of the beautiful fig trees cleared from Robertson Road, on the edge of Centennial Park between Alison Road and Anzac Parade, to make way for the new light rail through Surry Hills. The figs appear with angel wings and halo rings, imploring urgent reflection on narrow faith in progress. “It’s not right,” the artist says. “The more I think about it, the more upsetting it is. Why should our parks be destroyed?”
A new series of works, similarly concerned but more subdued, is nearing completion. The fig trees, minus wings and halos, appear in loving detail, a little ghostly, rendered in titanium white, raw umber, yellow ochre, raw sienna and transparent black. Each work resembles a portrait, with attention given to particular bark patterns, knot-holes, buttress roots and limbs.
“I spent a long time in preparation before making these,” Margaret explains. “I walked up and down several times, I sat down beneath a tree. They are so expressive. I tried to understand, to feel the sorrow of the tree, to get that feeling.”
Working from large photographs and charcoal sketches (“Charcoal produces the right mysterious darkness”), Margaret composed each picture on a square canvas. “Each tree seemed to have its own spirit. I saw them as heavenly trees, as beings in their own right. I tried not to project a human spirit or form, but to respect their alien quality, their otherness.
“From a biological point of view, plants and trees chose to be rooted in one place. They are then at the mercy of moving beings, they can’t escape from predators. I’ve been reflecting on the tragedy of being a tree.
“Trees are precious beings. They are the lungs of the city and add beauty to the built environment. They cool the earth – not just by providing shade but by transpiration. Trees transpire, they take the heat out of the air, cool the air and cool the soil.
“Of course, trees are home to insects and birds, bats and possums. I’m sad and angry to see such devastation – along Anzac Parade, by the racecourse, in High Cross Park. The huge Tree of Wisdom at Wansey Road and High Street is gone. All these things that sustain life, we don’t appreciate.”
The new collection will likely feature as part of a group show in the eastern suburbs in the next few months.
It’s also hoped at least some of the works will be shown at the Orchard Gallery before the end of the year. “I value the classes there so much,” Margaret says. “I find they stimulate me to be creative. It’s the freedom of the space and the input from different teachers. It’s also the gentle pressure of the time-frame – the pressure to end up with something. Things just happen.”
