Exhibition closing: Finding Sylva exhibition

You do not need a ticket to attend this exhibition.

Within walking distance, there lies one of the largest populations of ancient and veteran trees in the South West. Suzanne Elson and Sally Imbert’s work celebrates these living monuments which provide a critical resource for biodiversity and a haven of solace, inspiration and continuity in a changing world.

Suzanne is a fine artist, ecologist and botanist. Her intricate graphite portraits honour some of her favourite local trees and she provides maps, directions and context to help people learn about them. Her drawings of trees take many, many hours to complete and it can be months from the start of a drawing to the completion, giving her time to get to know the tree, seeing it in all kinds of light and through different seasons. Capturing the sheer energy of a tree's form, and how this form is beautifully suspended between order and chaos, gives a sense of how it is constantly evolving. She observes in detail the twist’s and turns that are the tree's slow and intimate response to its environmental experiences.

Sally paints with a focus on pattern and depth of colour to draw the eye into lyrical details of tiny things. Found twigs with a frond of lichen, curling cow parsley and a wind blown spring nest, touched with delicacy. Her botanical ink collograph prints evoke a sense of the miraculous in nature.

Ancient trees and woodlands are a deeply rich part of our historic cultural landscape in Britain, having been managed since prehistoric times. This entwining with humanity has shaped and conserved our woods and their biodiversity in the past, but they are often poorly valued and neglected these days. We are so lucky in Bristol to have such rare ancient woodland and wood pasture to explore, where you can see clearly how the trees were worked for centuries to provide a sustainable source of fuel, fodder and the basic materials for shelter, tools and utility. Only 2.5% of UK land is now covered in ancient woodland, and it is our richest and most complex terrestrial habitat. I want to highlight these local treasures and help the people of Bristol build a relationship with them for the future.” Suzanne

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