TREE OF LIFE
NA SAINTE-CHAPELLE DE VINCENNES, PARIS

Faced with the challenge to interact with Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculpture at the Villa Borghese, Joana Vasconcelos imagined the tree that the mythological figure of Daphne turns into when, fleeing Apollo's amorous advances, she decides to transform into a laurel. A gesture of self-determination and overcoming that found a parallel when - in the confinement to which her studio was forced due to the Covid-19 pandemic - the artist asked the craftsmen who work with her to create leaves from home. 140,000 in total, all hand-embroidered with different motifs, such as the Viana do Castelo canutilho stitch, ended up forming 354 branches on a 13 metres high tree. A site-specific creation for the Sainte-Chapelle de Vincennes in Paris carried out in collaboration with the Centre des Monuments Nationaux to celebrate the Cultural Season between Portugal and France 2022, curated by Jean-François Chougnet; the work reinforces the verticality of the link between earth and sky, the mundane and the spiritual.

A vertical link between heaven and earth, the tree is in fact a symbol of man's relationship with God in the Bible. Because it provides shade, it's a place to stay, a privileged place to meet. The Bible ends in Revelation with a tree of life that bears fruit every month and whose leaves are medicine in the midst of the heavenly Jerusalem. A symbol of prodigality, generosity and eternal life, it also reminds us that we don't have absolute power over people and things. The tree reminds us to live with respect for the environment
Jean-François Chougnet
TREE OF LIFETREE OF LIFE
© Didier Plowy courtesy Centre des Monuments Nationaux
TREE OF LIFETREE OF LIFE
© Didier Plowy courtesy Centre des Monuments Nationaux
TREE OF LIFETREE OF LIFE
© Didier Plowy courtesy Centre des Monuments Nationaux
TREE OF LIFETREE OF LIFE
© Didier Plowy courtesy Centre des Monuments Nationaux
Making Of
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Artwork Details
PRODUCTION DATE
2023
DIMENSIONS
1350 x 900 x 900 cm
MATERIALS
Aluminium, steel, fabrics, handmade cotton crochet, ornaments, LED, power supply unit
NOTES
The artwork contains around 140,000 leaves, 10,000 of them with LED lights.
Artwork exhibited at
Transcending The DomesticTranscending The Domestic
27/10/2024>20/04/2025Transcending The Domestic
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Plug-InPlug-In
28/09/2023 > 31/03/2024Plug-In
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