New York-based Japanese artist Yuken Teruya cuts out shapes of tree branches and leaves on one side of disposable paper bags and assembled the cut-out parts, so that there's a tree standing in the same bag that it came from for his project ‘Notice forest’.
[
link]
[
link]
[
link]
His concern was to point to the link between environmental problems and the ever-growing ‘family trees’ of global corporations.
[
link]
The models are the trees that the artist saw in his neighborhood or from where he has traveled.
[
link]
"I cut out one side of disposable paper bags. Then I assemble a tree from the cut-out-part, stand each tree in the same bag that it came from. When you see it under the natural light, the delicate tree shows inside a paper bag, shows us the strength and the proof of existence of living tree."
[
link]
[
link]
[
link]
[
link]
[
link]
[
link]
[
link]
For his 'The Giving Tree' Project, Yuken cut and created a tree from the pages of Shel Silverstein's 1964 children's book, The Giving Tree, about a boy's life-long relationship with a tree.
[
link]
[
link]
For his 'Corner Forest' and 'Rain Forest' projects, he cut trees from toilet paper rolls.
Toilet rolls sprouting and spreading branches are installed to a wall to create a forest.
Commissioned by the New York Times, he creates this piece entitled Green Economy.
[
link]
[
link]
[
link]
On March 11th 2011, while the artist stayed in Japan for a residency program, eastern Japan was attacked by Magnitude 9 earthquake. The tsunami caused by the earthquake wiped out many villages and towns along the coast, and the serious damage was done to Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
[
link]
[
link]
[
link]
Since the day, tragic photographs appeared on the cover of the newspaper everyday. His works called 'Minding My Own Business' is the artist’s response to the whole experience. His intention was to let the new sprouts grow from the surface of the newspaper that document the tragic stories. Even when the whole country is shaken by the disaster, time passes, Spring comes and new lives start.
Check his website:
http://www.yukenteruyastudio.com/
