Opening October 19, 3-5PM

In the poem Unchopping a Tree, American poet W.S. Merwin walks us through the steps necessary to accomplish the impossible: reconstruct a felled tree. His matter-of-fact instructions and detailed play-by-play recounting serve to gently remind us of nature’s complexity and generosity.

Start with the leaves, the small twigs, and the nests that have been shaken, ripped, or broken off by the fall.

Tap’s practice celebrates the natural world in all its life and vigour. She begins by harvesting images from decommissioned auction catalogs—depictions of the natural world. From these fragments new collaged compositions are built up and become the source for the paintings. The first act can be understood as deconstruction, literally tearing the canon to pieces. The second act is reassembly, integrating multiple viewpoints into a new form. Then, reanimation through the act of painting.

With spider’s webs you must simply do the best you can.

The works in this exhibition expand Tap’s exploration of living systems to contemplate loss and the possibility of loss. In some paintings, small figures stand witness to the enormity of the task of undoing the destruction facing us today.

Practice, practice. Put your hope in that.

As observed by poet Hannah Fries, “Which is to say, there’s hope and beauty in the act itself—the act of restoration, of attending to something with such precise care.” You do what you can, one piece at a time. Or, as Merwin concludes:

Everything is going to have to be put back.¹

1. Merwin, William Stanley. Unchopping a Tree. Illustrated. Trinity University Press, 2014

Monica Tap’s works from Everything is going to have to be put back are featured in Issue 71 of Wondercabinet written by Lawrence Weschler.