“Escape – a homage to Birkenhead Park trees throughout lockdown 2021″
by Matthew Thomas & Lorraine Hughes.
We jointly created this mixed-media photo montage called Escape. It features an image of a well-trodden pathway through an avenue of trees in Birkenhead Park, Wirral.
We often collaborate on nature-inspired projects. Our joint birthday is in April, and exhibiting at the Threshold X festival in 2021 felt like a fitting way to celebrate.
During a challenging time, when the government granted us ‘permission’ to engage with the natural world once a day without masks, our daily trips to the park to sit among the trees offered us hope, relaxation, and time to reflect on how vital these amazing “lungs of the world” truly are.
To escape the pressure, we sent this homage to a Birkenhead tree to the festival, hoping to share our feelings with others.
As we emerged from lockdown, we sought to escape, familiarising ourselves with the natural colours and rhythms of the world along ‘pathways of desire’ that others had created to navigate routes to a natural future.
Thank you to the trees of Birkenhead Park for providing our lockdown Escape.
