A conversation with artist, Sarah Cook:
What is the background to the bronze cloak of oak leaves?
Sarah: “I want to engage people in a conversation about what trees and the landscape mean for them. This is at a time of local and global concerns about deforestation and loss of natural habitats.”
“My daily walks through Padley Gorge and the surrounding woods triggered images of bronze age people who lived in the Peak District and populated the forests. These were settled communities that worked metal for tools, ornaments and weapons. People began to travel north into this area following the end of the last ice age around 2,500 BC. Today the landscape has been denuded of trees, leaving only isolated copses and steep valley woodlands as vestiges of the forest that used to cloak the area.”
“I looked at the many misshapen oak trees in Padley Gorge that looked like dancing figures with outstretched arms. I imagined our ancestors celebrating their festivals, with women wearing bronze ornaments over their cloaks. I then fashioned bronze torques and bronze oak leaves and made the large bronze cloak of leaves. The cloak is made of 100 unique bronze oak leaves, attached to a torque by bronze rods which in turn is supported by a sinuous steel spine. I made a one-off mould of each leaf, and when liquid molten bronze was poured into each mould it froze the leaf in time. Some leaves are beginning to decay, some have holes in them, some are frayed and some have bits of earth or sticks attached. The cloak is left empty in memory of past ancestors.”
“This art work alludes to the symbolic, mythological and spiritual meanings of oak trees in European culture. Oaks are symbols of strength, longevity and the power of nature. These are potent forces within this era of environmental chaos. This cloak was part of an installation, first displayed in a woodland exhibition in March 2019 in Brunt’s Barn Copse (The Meaning of Trees https://www.sarahcookartist.co.uk/gallery)”
Why have you chosen to donate the proceeds from your artwork to the Peak District Appeal - Woods for the Future?
Sarah: “With my concern about the local ecology and my commitment to reforestation, I wanted the cloak of bronze leaves to give something back to the environment. Trees shed their rotting leaves to make rich leaf litter that then nourishes the new tree shoots and saplings. By asking for donations to Longshaw Tree Nursery and the woodland projects this cycle of regeneration is being mirrored and people are investing in the future. Hopefully people will take the bronze oak leaves and spread them near and far. This reflects how falling leaves and seeds are carried by the wind to be dispersed to new places and support new growth.”