Spirit Faces
Lester Doré
The carved “Green Man” face is an ancient tradition symbolizing the life that is found in nature and in the earth itself. I have carved them into tree bark here as a symbol of rebirth, or “renaissance,” representing the new cycle of growth each spring. By anthropomorphizing trees I hope to strengthen the viewers connection with them and the ways we are interdependent with them. They’ve supplied us with shelter, food, tools, art media, medicine, soil conservation, oxygen, inspiration, and so much more–it’s hard to imagine life on earth without trees.