Between the Trees – Artist’s Statement
‘A forest is what exists between its trees, between its dense
undergrowth and its clearings, between all its life cycles and
their different time-scales…A forest is a meeting place between
those who enter it and something unnameable and attendant…
Something intangible and within touching distance. Neither
silent nor audible’. John Berger, 2007.
What is a forest? Is it the trees or is it the space that exists
between them?
Between the Trees explores the nature and meaning of ‘Forest’
by considering the experience of standing alone inside the
woods; the eerie and captivating sensation that time has slowed
down and that the forest and everything within it exists in a
different state from everything outside, somehow set apart from
our usual perception of linear time. The wind drops, the air
cools, all is quiet and still and the forest envelops us. To enter
this other realm is to accept a slowing of time and a shift in
perception.
Swirling, hanging and drifting smoke allows us to observe not
only time moving at an almost imperceptible pace, but also to
focus on the interior space that is very much part of ‘the forest’,
guiding the eye away from the trees and allowing it to linger on
this ‘betweenness’. Suspended and still, the smoke fills the
spaces between the trees, and reflects our physical experience
of these places: the palpable and brooding cognisance of the
forest, the muffled and flattened sound, the prickling sense of
heightened awareness. The ethereal mist fills the gaps to show
the spaces between, as if we can slip through and escape the
bounds of time.
John Berger in - ‘Hold Everything Dear: Dispatches on Survival
and Resistance’, p.135-140 Verso, 2007.
Ellie Davies (Born 1976) lives in Dorset and works in the woods and forests of Southern England. She gained her MA in Photography from London College of Communication in 2008.
She is represented by Crane Kalman Brighton Gallery in the UK, Patricia Armocida Gallery in Milan, Susan Spiritus Gallery in California, A.Galerie in Paris and Brussels and Brucie Collections in Kiev.
Crane Kalman Brighton Gallery showed her work at Photo London Digital from 7th - 18th October 2020.
Davies’ work is on show at 10 Gresham Street in the City of London until the end of January 2021.
Awards AWARDS
Fresh 2019 Klompching Gallery Awards Finalist
Moscow International Photo Awards 2019 1 Gold and 2 Bronze in Fine Art/Other/Portfolio
Fine Art Photography Awards 2019 Professional Category Conceptual Nominee
12th Pollux Awards Professional Fine Art Series Winner
12th Julia Margaret Cameron Award 2018 Professional Landscapes and Seascapes Winner
Urbanautica Institute Awards 2018 Nature, Environment and Perspectives Winner
International Photographer of the Year Awards 2017 Professional Fine Art Landscape Category 3rd Place
Magnum Photography Awards 2017 Fine Art Single Image Winner
The Environment Agency NATURE@WORK Photography Competition Finalist
Celeste Prize 2017 Digital Photography Finalist
AI-AP American Photography 33 2017 Selected Winner
PDN The Curator Awards 2016 Landscape Winner
Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition 2016 Aesthetica People’s Choice Award
Centre of Fine Art Photography Transitional Landscapes Exhibition 2016 Juror’s Honourable Mention
PX3 Paris Photo Prize 2015 Fine Art Landscape Gold Award
Critical Mass 2014 Finalist
Royal Photographic Society Competition and Annual Exhibition 2015 Selector’s Choice by Louise Clements
Bob Books June 2015 Book of the Month
Barcelona International Photography Awards 2015 Top 50 Photographers
Smithsonian Photo Contest 2015 Altered Images Category Winner
International Photography Awards 2014 Nature-Landscape Pro 1st Place
Art Gemini Awards Prize 2014 1st Place Winner
Fine Art Photography Awards 2014 Nominee in Fine Art
PH21 Gallery Inside Out Jurors Selection 2014 Honourable Mention
Moscow International Photo Awards 2014 two Honourable Mentions in Fine Art and Landscape
Kontinent Awards 2014 Fine Art Projects category First Place Winner
London International Creative Competition 2013 Winner
Critical Mass 2012 Finalist
Professional Women Photographers International Juried Exhibition 2012 Honourable Mention
ArtSlant Showcase 2011 Round 4 Juried Winner
Lens Culture Exposure Awards 2010 Honorable mention
