South African artist Strijdom van der Merwe has created a striking land art installation in which 24 living Water Oak trees have been sculpted to resemble giant colored pencils emerging from a natural gorge. Titled “Deus sive Natura”—Latin for “God or Nature”—the work draws on 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza’s concept of nature and divinity as a unified substance. It was developed in collaboration with property owner Michael Silver and arborist Lloyd Dambuza. Unlike traditional sculpture, this work is a living process: Dambuza pruned the non-indigenous oaks to maintain their lower foliage for biological health while shaping the upper branches into geometric “lead” tips. As the trees continue to grow and respond to the seasons, the “pencils” will evolve, challenging the boundary between human intervention and natural regeneration.
Design Boom
