APE recently commissioned Tetiana Hern, a Ukrainian artist and refugee based in Scotland to create a painting that represents a connection to the ‘Spirit of the Forest’ and the Amazon Rainforest, inspired by one of our favourite APE recordings which you can listen to here.
Tetiana produced this beautiful painting by imagining walking into the Amazon Rainforest whilst immersed outside in the woods in Scotland..
She told us how this process allowed the forest to influence her painting. Here is some insight into the making of the work from Tetiana herself.
‘The story of this painting is amazing by the way it was painted open–air literally in the woods where the tree branches moved by the strength of Scottish winds along with random sun glare were playing wild on the canvas. Variety of insects and plant leaves took part in the painting process.
Also my son`s little feet (who was born in South Africa, grew in Ukraine and now living with me in Scotland) stepped into the scene of the great Amazonian forest roots to bring the global connection of us humans as part of the greater cycle of life.’
‘It reminds us of the responsibility of any action we do or don’t do whether it is positive or negative, big or small, strong or weak on one side of the world has its impact on the other side.’
For APE, the artistic process has always been a central part of our connection to the world and each other and really forms the foundation of our work. Being able to support artists like Tetiana to document their experiences through painting and a connection to nature is work that is very close to our hearts.
Tetiana’s painting was exhibited in Summerhall in Edinburgh during the Fringe festival with the hope that showing this piece would facilitate raising awareness of global deforestation. Tetiana said
‘I hope viewing the image will help people feel connected to the Spirit of the Forest and make them see its vital need to stay in balance with everything in the world.’
Tetiana managed to make it back to Ukraine for a month in the summer and is now back in Scotland with her family.
If you would like to know more about her story you can follow her on Instagram @tetianahurn .
