Flame Tree

Whispers of a burnt forest

Singing of the birds

Crackling of the undergrowth

Yearning to be heard

Canopy of black naked limbs

Fragile and telling

Ash crumbling off her skin

Memories of her yelling

Roots like daggers emerging from her soil,

Deep red sap oozing as she boils

No where to be ignorant

No room to detach

When the flames knock on your door...what do you say to that?

This body of work is an empathic, personal ceremonial project acknowledging devastation and regeneration. Honouring the existing life cycles of life, death and rebirth. I emotionally responded to the environment through intuitive dance. The potent red light poured in through the trees, only lasting for a short window of eight minutes at sunset.

Self Portrait Series by Courtney Allen