I have imagined this work based upon my observations of natural Gourmand Trees.

It is at the Millenium Project, in Kingston's Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area (Ontario) that I have created this very first work. The cage I have built around this tree is intended to remain in place forever, and to be swallowed by the bark along the years.

My fisrt visit after installation, three years later, allowed me to observe that the process was going on and was splendid. One can see there that Nature does not accept to be kept in a cage...

The messages in Gourmand Trees

In our seething era, on the edge of a millenium, the idea of creating an artwork with living elements is an act of optimism. An art in perpetual progress because of the very nature of its composition, manifests its confidence in the future, and becomes a stimulating value for those who have no more hope or goal, who may think the future will bring nothing more nor better than this 20th Century had. This work is an encouragement for human beings to live long enough to show an advanced state of the works, to find emulation in this art, and in the meantime get involved in the positive renewal of our civilization. It is an envisioning art.

These plants express wisdom, liberty, transcendance. They teach us courage in the face of difficulty, audacy and strenght to meet obstacles. Therefore trees become an affirmation of our will to surpass ourselves. Future Speeches call for attitudes and feelings that are a scarcity to too many of our contemporaries : curiosity, faith, work toward ideals, tenacity, perseverance, visualizing success, personal progress, longevity, integrity, strenght, transformation, evolution, growth, harmony, creativity... respect of nature, of humans and their cultural expressions (because culture is also a stunning memory and impregnation phenomenon).

Our civilization of simultaneity and instantaneousness makes us forget the importance of time and the value of patience. A tree is unaware of doubt. It is the very symbol of patience. Its growing verticality challenges the present, plans for a future. In this context, it is like a probe launched into the infinity of time.

As an observer of life, this art investigates the desire for living. This is an artwork on which we keep a close eye. An artwork that raises hope.