To Understand a Tree, a work-in-process with Gina Siepel

What is the community of a tree? Are woodworkers part of it? What will happen if I, as a woodworker, place myself in a deeper relationship to the forest?
Interdisciplinary artist and woodworker Gina Siepel discusses her ongoing work, To Understand a Tree, currently in process in the forest of western Massachusetts. To Understand a Tree is inspired by a desire to contemplate a living forest tree and its immediate habitat from the perspective of a woodworker, directly engaging both the forest ecosystem and the furniture making process. In collaboration with naturalist Kate Wellspring and others, Siepel is studying a single red oak tree, integrating artistic and scientific methodologies. Forests are complex, interconnected systems, and in that spirit, To Understand a Tree connects furniture and object making to questions of forest ecology, climate change, and resource extraction.
Gina Siepel is an interdisciplinary artist and woodworker based in Greenfield, MA. Her work explores cultural understandings of nature, gender, and American history, through the production of objects, installations, and collaborative experiments in public spaces. Past exhibitions include the DeCordova Museum, the Colby Museum of Art, Vox Populi Gallery, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Marlboro College, Smith College, Flux Factory, and the Center for Art in Wood. Gina has received funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Berkshire Taconic Foundation, and the Puffin Foundation, and has been an artist-in-residence at Skowhegan, Mildred’s Lane, Sculpture Space, and Hewnoaks. Gina holds a BFA from the School of Art + Design at SUNY Purchase, an MFA from the Maine College of Art, and studied woodworking at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. In addition, Gina has worked extensively in the field of theatrical scenic design and construction, designing and building projects all over New York City and the northeast. Gina currently teaches studio art at Mount Holyoke College, and is a Visiting Artist at the Smith College Macleish Field Station.
Image above: Gina Siepel, video still, To Understand a Tree: Time, 2020