The Inner Studio - Riverside Architectural Press

THE INNER STUDIO
newspaper an advertisement for furniture made from the roots of
trees. I became excited and knew I had to go there. The place was
hard to find, well off the main street in an unmarked shed, but as
soon as I entered the workshop I felt deeply moved and at one with
everyone and everything there.
The branches, burls, roots, and massive planks were an earthly
and surreal feast. I had been ill for several years and this workshop
was like medicine. The roots and burls were from manzanilla trees,
juniper, and other high-desert species. They looked unworldly,
almost fragile, yet they were also full of the earth and very robust
in unexpected ways. They looked like congealed gasses. Great burls
that had formed beneath the earth in the gut of the tree symbolized
everything I was feeling but could not express. They contained the
beautiful difficult beginning of things. I bought several pieces of
wood that seemed to express mysterious states of transformation.
Since that day I have always searched for tree roots when I travel.
I collect the roots of trees; I can’t stop searching for them. My
fascination with and connection to tree roots is similar to the
centuries-old veneration of stones in Chinese and Japanese landscape.
The tradition of the Chinese scholar’s rock also testifies to
the creative energy that can be found in every kind of object.
When we think of the roots of a tree from the point of view of
producing a consumable resource, it has no purpose. When forests
are harvested, anything below the stump often remains untouched.
The roots are not suitable for commercial lumber. But from the
point of view of the tree, the root is essential–it holds the tree in
place in the earth, delivers nutrients, prevents erosion, and offers
habitats to many creatures. We know that root structures are equal
to or larger then the visible part of the tree. In this way, the roots
can symbolize the unconscious–unseen, yet entirely essential for
the healthy life of the organism.
There are three elements in dreams that need to be listened to
and investigated: the narrative, the symbol, and the context. What
seems banal in the built world can become a very provocative
symbol in a dream. The unconscious releases its meaning like the
perfume of an exotic flower; the dining-room table where we used
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