Notes on the Los Angeles River Willow tree works

 In late 2019, I had a desire to make work that came from the observation of the industrial area near my studio in the vicinity of the Los Angeles River.  The arrival of the pandemic and the sudden absence of cars and people intensified for me the appearance of the urban landscape where it intersected with the stubborn bits of nature. This led me to try and document this area and how it feels to me through paintings and drawing.

 This landscape of train tracks, warehouses and freeways form the boundaries of the concrete encased river.  However, for a few miles that the river bottom couldn’t be contained due to a high water table, the Los Angeles River exists as an approximation of its natural appearance. It exists as itself and a simulation of itself.

 I found myself drawn to the Willow trees that cling to the riverbed in this small section. Shaped by the circumstance of their survival, bent from winter storm waters, pruned, and cut down by work crews, their shapes telling the stories of their lives. It has become an ongoing project of mine since 2021, to ride my bicycle along the river, find a tree, and do a pen and ink drawing of it as a sort of diary and record of the tree on that day.