No Filter, 2021

Burled & White rotted (spalted) Bogleaf maple, complete with vast areas of live edge, No Filter is intended to display as wall décor with a key hook in the back or become the centerpiece of your favorite room! In surrounding ourselves with artwork that embraces, instead of hiding, its natural imperfection, we slowly realign our vision of what makes life beautiful. No filter needed.

Inspiration

You know what perfection gets us in the world of trees? Utility poles. Probably not the answer you were anticipating, but there you have it. There is much labor, research, & chemicals in crafting the perfect utility pole. Taper an exclusionary factor, straight grain a sought after aesthetic. Irregularities blacklisted for the repeatability in uniformity. Sound familiar?

We look at a redwood & wonder at how it grew so tall. We cherish memories spent supported in the branches of our favorite oak trees. Hiking up a mountainside, we collect ourselves under the sideways shade of twisted & gnarled trunks, capturing their bewildering beauty behind a lens that we so often judge ourselves & others with. A false dichotomy develops as we sit amazed at their grit & resilience to grow with their environment. To adapt, & overcome. Yet we see our own “imperfections” as areas to shame & hide. We don’t hesitate to swipe filters over our faces in an effort to cover our perceived flaws. The trouble is if you focus your efforts on being “perfect”, whatever flashing fad that resembles today, you become formless. A scraped slate already heavy with the weight of masking personalities & altering features with surgical precision in search of a status that only exists in fiction.

No Filter is meant to remind us to love the reflection we see in the mirror each day. Through intentionally choosing to display the cracks, crevices & decay present, instead of turning away the layers of character & history, the authenticity & complexity of existence are preserved.