Grief of Trees

On the 9th of January 2026, thousands of trees fell as Storm Goretti made landfall on the coast of the South-West of England, immediately devastating woodlands and trees in its path. Cornwall was unprepared for the destruction that arose from the winter storms that disrupted communities and broke homes. “Grief of Trees” is a visual narrative of the ecological grief of fallen trees. Just as the roots of the trees now face the sky, the environmental grief many feel has also come to the surface, a reminder of our love for the land that has been viciously changed. The fallen and dismembered trees that have been ripped and thrown by 99mph winds had a gripping emotional impact on me and many others. The mutilated limbs and boughs of ancient and timeless beings now lie in mass.

They lay on roadsides like roadkill, in forests like fallen soldiers and on hearts like family loss. They are symbols of disruption in nature, in the form of the storm, but also within the clearing of the damage done. The land hummed with the sound of chainsaws, and the ground soon became splinters left in memory of tall sentinels. This project is the visual representation of this disorder, and as seasons change, so does the fallen.