Mandy Coppes-Martin
Latent Memory
Plant Communitas - Curated by Patricia Brien
Museum in the Park - Stroud - 2022
Latent Memory can be seen as a thin piece of reconstituted time. It is made up of several layers of crocheted paper thread and Japanese Kozo paper. It is a work that has been brewing in my creative mind for several years. I can honestly say that it is one of those works that truly reflects the image that was in my head. This does not happen very often as things change when transferred into the three-dimensional world.
I wanted to feel immersed in the memory of a tree. The concentric paper rings are reminiscent of the life rings of the cross-section of a tree. A life once lived.
The tree has been the focus of most of my work to date. The “Tree” is very often the main character in a range of narratives and experiences. The Christian stories of Adam and Eve and the demise of the human race or the fruit-full offerings of the Bodhi tree that gave limitless knowledge to the person who meditated beneath it. Trees have been included in fairy tales from Little Red Riding Hood to the Giving Tree by Dr Seuss. Trees have been utilised for a myriad of stories and religious and spiritual beliefs that we as humans have chosen to tell or believe.
Trees however have a story of their own to tell and a very powerful one at that. And one that continues to unfold in front of our eyes. Trees are not just there for us to look at, they have a purpose and should therefore be revered and protected. To stand and think and see the forest as a new kind of Cathedral, to see the forest as our biggest ally in survival is far bigger than our wildest imagination or mythical story.