© 2025 Willa Downing

Willa Downing, Artist _______________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ Assembly of Departed Trees

A contemplation on presence of the absent, this work was inspired by a small stand of dead trees in Darts Hill Garden. The weathered lightness of their trunks, still identified with labels inserted in the ground, declared their presence in the green understory. Although those trunks have now been removed, they continue to claim this part of the garden in my imagination every time I walk by. And so, I create a panoply of the departed.

Exhibited in Panoply, Darts Hill Garden, Surrey BC, 2022.


I have continued to create more Departed Trees after this installation.