The weekly walk with[out] edges at 7.30am this morning was ‘A walk that sees below the surface of the earth’. It connected unexpectedly with my drawing of tree roots during the workshop with Dilip Sur and with the plan I had formed, but not yet executed, to draw a tree upside down. I ceased to walk on a solid, static surface. Below was more life than above. Other people were walking at the same time in other places, all trying to see beneath the surface. Now I realise that this would be the direction of the shortest distance between us.
I began a drawing with roots at the base and then I turned it upside down and continued. I had checked the internet for clues about the depth and spread of tree roots. They may spread further than the canopy of the tree, but in weight they are lighter. I felt my way into the drawing. Trunk and branches growing from the inside and roots reaching for water and nutrients. The physicality of the process resonated with the embodied act of walking.
I have uploaded my drawing for another artist (Aya Hastwell) to fuse with other people’s words and images to create the weekly collage. We are walking every week for a year with a different prompt each week and this will be the 26th collage. We are half-way there.
