Aos Dara 2022 Tomnafinnoge Wood Symposium 2022, Co Wicklow

Aos Dara Tomnafinnoge Wood Symposium 2022

"Augury" 2022, untreated fallen oak wood, 8.5m long (22m carved spirals)

I arrived at the symposium with a kernel of an idea and set out into the woods to find an appropriate fallen tree. I was very lucky to find this perfect specimen! Over the course of the 10 days I stripped back the rotten bark and wood in a double spiral pattern along the length of the tree trunk, revealing the beautiful pattern of the oak wood grain underneath. As part of the process I strove to preserve interesting features along the tree trunk, such as mushrooms, ferns, ivy and other plants that had taken root in the decomposing tree. I will be interested to see how the tree continues to rot now that I have introduced this new pattern of exposed hardwood.

Along with myself there were 3 other artists creating artwork in the woods. From right to left in the group image, organiser Niall O'Neill, Sara Kineen, Dave Kinane, and myself.