Rising Trees began in 2021, when I was moved by a fallen beech in the forest near my home. With a few friends, I performed a farewell ritual that took the form of a tree imprint. It was the beginning of a story that continues to unfold.
In Rising Trees, an imaginary forest emerges from the imprints of fallen trees. For years, I have repeatedly gone into forests and parks to make imprints of dead or dying trees. I call these imprints boomwaden, in analogy with burial shrouds. Together with a constantly changing group of collaborators, we ink the trees, wrap them in linen, and create careful imprints. This is done by rubbing with stones, in reference to an ancient druidic practice in which a similar gesture was used to release the soul of dead trees. It is a ritual process of saying farewell, honoring, and reconnecting with nature. In this way, we make the reciprocal relationship between humans and nature tangible.
Rising Trees invites reflection on the cycle of life and death — a cycle that nature presents to us. A dead tree gives life to seedlings, fungi, and insects. It becomes the humus for what is to come and grow. We see its shroud, can touch it, and care for it.
Collaboration with KNEPH made it possible to realize a film and to work on a larger scale. Many people and organizations, such as De Wijnpers, Alvinnenberg, De Ruimtevaart, and a diverse group of Brussels-based artists, also contributed to creating the boomwaden.
"With ‘Rising Trees,’ Lies Daenen captures the spirit of our time. In a world increasingly dominated by virtuality, we long for tangible contact with the earth — with its humus, its stones, and, above all, with the towering trees that root deeply and, as we all know from Peter Wohlleben, are connected in a global web that sustains natural resilience, reciprocity, and care. Lies Daenen’s ‘Boomwaden’ extend this moving sense of care from tree to human."
— Peter Bary, Director, M Leuven