Forest Time
Artist Evgenia Emets writes about her latest work and her upcoming exhibition, Forest Time, sharing a poem and answering a couple of questions.
Dear friends,
I’ve spent the last couple of years creating immersive art trails and experiences in nature based on poetry and natural landmarks, connecting ecology and community work. My practice is focused on how we can listen to what the Earth has to say to us, through the land, the trees, the plants that we all too often don’t take the time to listen to.
Last weekend, I took part in an incredible gathering for art and ecology, Pela Terra, in the beautiful land of Idanha-a-Vida. It brought together a wide range of thinkers and artists, sparking new conversations on our relationship with the earth we inhabit. For me, it was an opportunity to make connections, deepen my visual language and expand my practice with direct interventions in the land through poetry calligraphed on flags. It was a wonderful experience, bringing people through a trail where the Earth asks us questions, asking participants to think about what it has to tell and ask us as humans.
I wanted to take the chance to invite you, dear readers of culturala, to join me in my upcoming project Forest Time. Launching next week, it’s the culmination of a two-year research and investigation program, with two exhibitions taking place in the magnificent green spaces of Lisbon: in Estufa Fria de Lisboa and Monsanto Forest Park. Learning from the histories and evolution of both spaces, this work combines guided walks in nature, and poetic and visual artworks written from the perspective of plant time, forest time, and natural time. You’re welcome to join me for the opening on May 17th at Estufa Fria, and for any of the art trails throughout the next months. I’d love to see you there!
My time is not your time
My time is wisdom
Coiled beneath the roots
My time is light
The one you know as food
My time is seed
That knows how long it’s due
My time is backwards
From the future towards you
My time is you
The fish within my stream
My time is soil
The keeper of your dream
Maria / culturala
When I went on your walk at Pela Terra, you felt more like a forest fairy than anything else. What made you become so concerned with the forest in the first place?
Evgenia
I started working with forest and ecology when I moved to Portugal six years ago, in 2017. It was the year that saw some of the most devastating fires, associated with spreading monocultures of eucalyptus. I wanted to understand the causes for the destruction of natural biodiverse forests, and so I stepped onto a winded path that since then literally took me into the depth of nature – but also into the depth of time. It opened new temporalities related to appreciating the richness of ecology, and took me into a completely new realm of thinking.
The experience affected my art greatly, shifting the focus and the axis of my work toward earth-centered practice. I felt called to work directly with the forest as a medium and as inspiration. It also led me to start the artistic project Eternal Forest, through which I’ve been exploring ways and methods to collaborate with nature – specifically by creating art-protected forest sanctuaries that local communities pledge to protect.
culturala
With these two exhibitions in Estufa Fria and Monsanto, it feels like your work is really coming together. What is your advice for young conceptual artists that are still figuring out how to bring their work into something concrete and accessible?
Evgenia
It’s hard to give advice as we are all working in unique ways and it’s important to listen to your own voice and find your own way of working. What works for me is to cast my net wide and look for answers in everything around me. Once I find an idea that glows stronger than others, I keep blowing on it like when you’re starting a fire, looking for the best way to bring it into shape and communicate the message that it brings.
With love,
Evgenia Emets