Yulia Pinkusevich

BUDDHA BROW  //  SITE SPECIFIC INSTALLATION AT WILDLANDS  I had the great pleasure of being an Artist in Residence at Wildlands this summer, while spending time at Wildlands which is located in Marin county California, I've been inspired by the Oak forests nativ to this region. The property is designed around a stunning Live Oak tree. This magnificent oak, with its impressive size and age (estimated to be up to 500 years old) has been a witness to so much change yet through all of this it remains present, in stillness. This installation uses materials I found at Wildlands, Each day I set off on a walk through the forest to collect oak galls, galls were famous for its use in making ink, apparently the Declaration of Independence is written is oak gall ink, but ultimately I became curious about their form and its relationship to the oak. Oak Galls or Oak Apples are bulbous objects which grow on valley oaks in this region of California. They are formed when the tiny cynipid wasp of the species Andricus quercuscalifornicus lays eggs in the twig of certain oaks. The wasp larvae release chemicals which mimic the trees own growth hormones thus deceiving the oak into growing a gall around it to both contain the damage but also to gift the wasp protections, the gall ends up functioning as a kind of nursery for the wasp larvae to grow up in. Once ready the wasp emerges from the gall by chewing its way out and leaving an exit hole on the outside. I found this relationship to be poetic, a reflection of the Buddha way. Despite the burden of this parasite, the oak has learned to embrace this irritant with an offering of a gall. This generous embrace of the hardships in life inspired me to create an installation in the Great Oak using found and painted oak Galls, I create a form in the landscape by suspending 108 found galls with string, from some perspectives one can see the shape of two arched brows, mirroring the Buddha brows on the statue located just across from the cottage I stayed in. The buddha head serene in contemplation, the brows ever so perfectly arched in calm serenity. The galls become the brows and the tree becomes the buddha watching the landscape in time through the eyes of this tree. Visitors were invited to participate in a walking meditation, this is a time lapse of this event.

The summer of 2019 I had the distinct pleasure of being an Artist in Residence at Wildlands in Healdsburg, California. While there, I was very inspired by the serenity of the place deep in the Northern California Oak forests. As a ritualistic practice, I hiked daily to collect oak galls. Oak galls or oak apples grow on certain valley oaks as a result of a parasitic wasp laying it’s larva in the oak twigs. The wasp larva secrete a hormone so similar to the oaks own, the oak will grow a gall as a way to both excrete the parasite and protect the larva. This commensalistic relationship really spoke to me, the gall is both a result of an irritant but also gives the wasp an offering of food and shelter. This installation contemplates this complex relationship which for me not only speaks to the interdependent living systems we are all a part of, but it also symbolizes a poetic way to embrace the difficulties of life.