Title of work Oak Tree Ecospher
Client Bow Arts
Date of work 2024
Medium Wall installation - Jesmonite, Acrylic
Installed Venues Foyer at The Lab at Oaklands Rise, London

‘Oak Tree Ecosphere’ honours the biodiversity of oak trees. Oaklands Rise, is found on Old Oak Common Lane which leads down towards Acton, old English for ‘oak town’, as these names suggest, a large part of the area was considerably wooded with great oak trees.

According to the Woodland Trust, oak trees are a haven for a colossal 2,300 wildlife species, no other tree species in the UK supports a greater diversity of life than an ancient oak. The 2300 species consist of some 38 bird species, 229 bryophytes, 108 fungi, 1178 invertebrates, 716 lichens, and 31 mammals.

I led a series of Jesmonite casting workshops with Old Oak residents and painted a life-sized ancient oak tree with their jesmonite artworks attached in the foyer of The Lab at Oaklands Rise, London. Participants learned about the ecosystems of oak trees and created sculptures of the living organisms that would have lived in their local area, including: Badger, Wood mouse, Bechstein’s bat, Barbastelle bat, Tawny owl, Wood warbler, Lesser spotted woodpecker, Jay, Pied flycatcher, Blue tit, Blue ground beetle, Purple emperor butterfly, Purple hairstreak butterfly, Dark crimson underwing, Penny bun, Common toad, Oakmoss lichen, as well as acorns and leaves of native Sessile oak.