Tree Time

Tree Time is a series of assemblage sculptures created by Emily C-D in 2019 after having recently relocated to the rural, semi-arid outskirts of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. Emily took wandering walks to get to know her new neighborhood and was drawn to gathering scrap wood in an area clearly suffering from deforestation and resulting desertification. In the studio, Emily remixed the wood, mostly unaltered, with other found objects, unifying the pieces through joinery and by sewing with wire. The sculptures not only reflect the landscape from which their individual elements were gleaned, but also speak to a sense of arboreal time that calls into question the rush of the very civilization that is degrading said environment; as the artist quips, "I try to count my minutes by the tick-tock of the tree clock."

This body of work was to be a part of a two-person exhibit in San Miguel de Allende when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Rather than wait for life to return to normal, Emily C-D and fellow artist DJ Barrett decided to present their work online, as their approach to art-making seemed more relevant than ever: utilizing whatever you have on hand to make work. Though from different generations, the two discovered a kindred approach to making work from found and vernacular materials, and particularly for the purposes of this exhibit, wood. Both are also improvising musicians who draw heavily upon their extemporaneity experience in their visual art practice. Silent Acoustic includes an interview with the artists, still photos of their sculptures, videos, and a text by writer and cultural promoter Víctor Fuentes of the Gubidxa Gallery. 

Bingo Bango, 2020, found wood and other objects, single channel digital video, color, with sound

"There was an intentional initiative to transform wood. For Emily C-D, a desire to reclaim that which has been relegated, forgotten, abandoned for who knows how long in an unsuspected place...The mysticism that underlies the artist's works is the desire to create new images from the land that gives us everything. This wood, now a sculpture, once drank a river? Was it the house of some birds that decided to abandon it? [She has] brought them together.

In Emily's clocks, there remains something unmeasured, a non-confinement, a silent scream that invites us to reinterpret what is not useful, that which does not have a price and which we obtain by simply picking it up...Each element recognizes itself within a range of earth tones that connect us to the primordial source...The sculptures, though made of vernacular materials, cannot be overlooked, but rather penetrate through our pores, animating us with their many nuances to discern. In the end, the song of the wood belongs to everyone."

—Excerpt of the essay "Ground Resonances" by Víctor Fuentes, from the online exhibit Silent Acoustic

After the Burn, from the Tree Time sculpture series by Emily C-D.

After the Burn, 2020, wood, bone, wool, nails, metal chair frame, H 3’ W 4’ D 3’

To learn more about Silent Acoustic, check out the online exhibit as well as the review of the show by Lori Waxman on her Covid-19 edition of "60 wrd/min" featuring shows that were cancelled, postponed, shuttered, made remote, and opened only by limited appointment.

Tiempo Arbóreo es una serie de esculturas de ensamblaje creadas por Emily C-D en 2019 tras mudarse al campo semi-árido a las afueras de San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. Mientras exploraba su nuevo entorno, Emily se sintió atraída por levantar trozos de madera desechada, eso en una zona claramente afectada por la deforestación y la consiguiente desertificación. En su estudio, Emily combinó la madera, casi inalterada, con otros objetos pepenados, unificando las piezas mediante la carpintería y el cosido con alambre. Las esculturas no solo reflejan el paisaje del que se extrajeron sus elementos individuales, sino que también evocan una sensación del tiempo de los árboles, algo que cuestiona el ritmo acelerado de la misma civilización que degrada ese ambiente; como dice la artista: "Intento medir mi tiempo en minutos de madera."

Este cuerpo de obra iba a formar parte de una exposición en San Miguel de Allende cuando se desató la pandemia de COVID-19. En lugar de esperar a que la vida volviera a la normalidad, Emily C-D y su colega artista DJ Barrett decidieron presentar su trabajo en línea, ya que su enfoque artístico parecía más relevante que nunca: trabajar con lo que se tuviera a la mano. Aunque de generaciones diferentes, ambxs descubrieron un afín por crear obra con materiales encontrados y autóctonos, y en particular para esta exposición, la madera. Tanto C-D como Barrett son músicos, y aplican su amplia experiencia de improvisación musical a su práctica artística visual. Silent Acoustic incluye una entrevista con lxs artistas, fotos de sus esculturas, videos y un ensayo del escritor y promotor cultural Víctor Fuentes, de la Galería Gubidxa.

"Hubo una iniciativa en intervenir la madera. Para Emily C-D, es esa madera que ha quedado relegada, la que no se destina para nada, la que pudo estar abandonada por mucho, en un lugar insospechado. No es más que el deseo de crear imágenes nuevas para la tierra que todo lo prodiga, es éste el misticismo que bordea las obras. ¿Esa madera, ahora escultura, bebió un río? O ¿solo fue casa de unos pájaros que decidieron abandonarla? [Ella, los ha] reunido.

En los relojes de Emily, permanece un no medida, un no encierro, un grito desgargante que invita a reinterpretar lo que no es útil, lo que no tiene un precio y lo obtenemos con solo poner la mano sobre él...La composición sobrepasa el puro ensamble, donde cada pieza se reconoce a sí misma, y ya, todas se muestran bajo una gama tierra, o al menos nos conecta con ella...Las [esculturas] conformaran piezas libres de juego, donde mirar, respirar y olernos. Hasta penetrar a través de sus poros, vivificarnos de sus nuevos colores, y matices por discernir. Al final, el arrullo es de todxs."

—Del ensayo "Resonancias de Tierra" de Víctor Fuentes, de la exposición en línea Silent Acoustic 

All Work © 2025 Emily C-D