Memorial to an English Oak by Eric Marland

English Oak

This headstone-shaped piece of oak was originally intended as a memorial for a timber merchant. However, it developed large cracks while seasoning, so the artist used it for another purpose.

‘I feel it’s important to acknowledge the environmental impact of memorial-making. This is not to suggest we abandon memorials, as I’ve seen how cathartic their making can be; but that we carefully consider the materials we use when commemorating a life. I had thought of putting various messages on the piece about how creation involves destruction. But in the end I decided to leave the viewer to draw their own conclusions, about the felling of an oak to remember an oak.’