Large Root Sculpture From Southwest China

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Nature produces beautiful sculptures. Provinces in Southwest China, especially in Guangxi and Southern Yunnan have low mountain formations and of … Read more Nature produces beautiful sculptures. Provinces in Southwest China, especially in Guangxi and Southern Yunnan have low mountain formations and of rock cliffs. These regions, especially those under the jurisdiction of Minority People have interesting plant life, especially fast growing plants that grow rapidly all over rock cliffs. To reach the growing areas of these interesting roots is not for the faint of heart, and definitely not open to hikers and trekkers. The natives harvest these interesting root sculptures by reaching the cliffs using zip lines. Their practice of harvesting tree roots has been strongly discouraged so the market today is not flooded with tree roots for sale as before.

One has to visualize that this sculpture was once part of a tree root system spreading across the on rock cliffs, fighting to anchor on the rock surface, thus producing the interlocking stems. When the artisan working on this piece of root realized he or she could enhance its magnificence by adding on a few pieces of roots here and there to add drama to the piece. The coarse outer barks have been stripped down to the bare root. The result is an unique piece of sculpture that is almost all natural.

Addendum: I was in the city of Miyako along the northeast coast of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. On a walk along the seacoast, I noticed rock cliffs with tree roots growing on the rocks illustrated by the last photo. It gives an idea how tree roots grew along rocks. See less