Lining the streets and canals, and standing in parks, trees are everywhere in Amsterdam. With an age extending ours, they bear witness to our wheelings and dealings. For the last two years I have seeking out trees that were felled for a variety of reasons: blown over by a storm, cut down when they are sick or at risk of falling, or are felled for the sake of one or the other building project. Counting the rings, I determine the year of “birth” and inscribe it into the stump of the tree. The tree stump becomes a temporary monument to the tree’s life and its current absence. It also serves as a reminder to the history of humans in the city.

Through frottage, I create 1:1 drawings that register the size and shape of the stump, the growth rings of the tree, the saw marks from when it was cut, and the year inscribed in it. In addition, I document these temporary monuments with a 4x5 analogue camera, which result in tightly framed “city scapes.” These become part of a growing archive.