Faculty of Art

Drawing and Painting

Bianca Nam

Arboreal (2023)

Arboreal (2023), is an interactive installation that is presented as a 2-Dimensional organism growing from a once living, 3-Dimensional form. The installation suggests a reimagining and abstracted view of a forest; generating a flourishing canopy akin to a weeping willow.

“Utilizing sound and movement through animation, Arboreal, transforms a windowless, indoor space into an organic and familiar environment through physical representations of nature and the cross pollination between; living entities, synthetic fibers and technology.Similarly to all living things, the installation is only temporary and will not take the exact same shape when reinstalled. However, the hybridity of the looped animation, the preserved tree branches and synthetic yarn creates an evergreen environment that can never, truly die. The installation is meant to allure; inviting viewers to explore the vibrant, luminous colours and images casted from the digital animations as they breathe amongst the branches, as well as feeling transported to a forest you want to get lost in. In line with previous installations, Arboreal, combines various methodologies that have been adopted throughout my practice such as; analogue and digital collage, textiles, plants, color, projection, sound and most recently, animation. The emergence of this installation was deeply informed by my growing series of projected collages (Biomorphism) and the swamp installation, Epiphyte, that I made in December of 2022. The animation was achieved using After Effects and Premiere Pro, creating a living entity of my collage and furthering the usage of technology in my installations. The animation provides a harmonic Segway into showing the natural progression between each iteration; from a small analogue collage, to a printed cut-out cocoon of the digital collage and the scaled-up projected installation.Arboreal, refers to living in the trees and is a common term associated with art that involves trees as a focal point. Viewers are welcomed to live amongst the trees.”