I saw an exhibition called Among The Trees on 25th October 2020. It was at the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, London. The Hayward Gallery is different to other art galleries I have visited. It was built in 1968. The effect of the concrete, grey building is kind of fun. 

All the types of art on display were mostly new for me: there were paintings, sculptures, models, animation and photography. All these art works had the theme of trees. For example, one animation by Jennifer Steinkamp was of a birch grove going through all the stages of the seasons. First, gaining green leaves, then the green leaves turning yellow and then the yellow ones turning orange and brown and then the leaves falling off and lastly green leaves growing. Another example is by Kazuo Kadonaga, he cut a tree trunk into around 800 paper-thin sheets then he put them back in order. From a distance it looked like a normal log but when you went close you could see a multitude of sheets.

My favourite artwork was probably the one made out of cardboard, it was made by Eva Jospin and it was called Forêt Palatine. It was a life-size model of a forest made completely out of cardboard. The story of this artwork is that the artist was moving studio and when she unpacked, she decided to use the packing boxes. When you looked at it from about 2m away it looked very life-like except for the colour, when you looked at it close up you could see what it was actually made out of. As well as that Eva Jospin changed her style of art (she was originally a painter). 

There were some things I didn’t find that interesting, but I didn’t dislike anything. Another thing I thought was good was a sculpture by American artist Roxy Paine called Rotoplasm, it is two small trees made out of stainless-steel tubes coated in red enamel. The branches connect to each other from each side. I liked it because the end of the branches looked a bit like veins. I also liked Mariele Neudecker's And Then the World Changed Colour: Breathing Yellow. It was a small fish tank under a green light with lots of miniature trees inside. I like it because it looked a bit spooky and misty. I think it was a bit too big so I didn’t have time to see all of it. 

This experience gave me ideas of making an artwork. I took a picture of And Then the World Changed Colour: Breathing Yellow. It was fascinating how the effect of mist/fog was made, it made it look spooky (a bit like the forest where Yoda lives in Star Wars). Later I Photoshopped it to make it look even more spooky. 

My grandmother was impressed by some of the photography at the exhibition because she had already heard of some of the photographers. My mother liked the contrast between the trees and the concrete walls and stairs of the Hayward Gallery. 

 I liked it and I will go back to see another exhibition at the Hayward Gallery. I was surprised to see so many different artworks about trees and such a variety of art. It was exciting to see so many 3D exhibits. The exhibition made me think about nature and how I can use it in my art.