About the Exhibition
People in Trees includes a group of ten birdlike figures nestled in the forks of the main branches and limbs of the trees that grow on the traffic triangle at City Hall Park. The figures are constructed with materials that Finn (b. 1952, USA) found, and are cemented and tied to a wooden skeleton. Each figure in the group wears a fanciful mask in the likeness of a bird, made of brightly painted sheet metal.
Finn describes People in Trees as an exploration of the relationship of individuals to nature and to the reveries of childhood. “Many of us remember sitting in trees as children—when we felt temporarily free from the comings and goings of the adult world, and consequently in touch with nature. It is this separation from nature that I wish to sooth and reveal at the same time, for the birds’ expressions are joyful, and the image I want to create is full of play and human spirit.”