 Costa Rican artist, Efrain Mendez, is trying to relive his childhood with a painting over a felled tree at the University of Costa Rica. Forest dwellers were reborn, with its magic and colorful, a giant fig tree that had been cut on the campus of the UCR; by the way the trees there are a must see, especially, for those who lo make a Costa Rica travel downtown.
In its solid trunk and sinuous roots, this tree exhibits a new suit tricolor: green, blue and red. Meanwhile, in the courts where once stood the thick branches overlook fantastic characters that populate the forest: owls, beetles, rabbits, butterflies and hummingbirds.
As part of a series of artistic interventions in trees, the painter and decorated Efrain Mendez recovered the remains of an old fig tree that stood in a green area of the Faculty of Education at UCR. The design is inspired by the book Story of the forest, the Costa Rican writer Fernando Centeno Guell (1907-1993); part of the Costa Rica history.
"These are stories written for children, but the message can be extracted from them is very deep and let life lessons for anyone, regardless of age. I think both art and nature give us valuable lessons, with great beauty and simplicity," said Mendez.
In the stories of Centeno Guell, plants, animals and natural elements like water and wind, adopting identities and human qualities, and also raise concerns associated with humans. Guell gives a nice touch of what he has lived in his country, knowing what we know now as costa rica ecology tours, was just his backyard back in the days.
Mendez said her artwork takes all shapes and natural textures of the tree. "They compete for territory, nutrients and light with other trees, and they do it very efficiently, so you almost get to 'strangle' the other tree until it dies," said the scientist.
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