Tree of Knowledge
This copper panel with a woodcut of a tree outside the Semiahmoo Library represents the growth of knowledge over time.
Artists: Jacqueline Metz and Nancy Chew
Location: Semiahmoo Library (1815 152 Street)
Category: Civic collection
Year: 2004
About Tree of Knowledge
The enormous Tree of Knowledge print, installed on the exterior wall of the Semiahmoo Library, was created from the copper panel element of the sculptural piece Still Point/From the Centre Outwards. On the copper panel, a historical woodcut image is inscribed. The myriad branches of the monumental tree represent the accumulation and growth of knowledge through time, and underscore the relationship of new knowledge to prior knowledge.
More on Tree of Knowledge
About the Artists
Nancy Chew and Jacqueline Metz are visual artists and have worked collaboratively since 1997. They are also known as Muse Atelier and their work is centered on the public realm. Their practice explores ideas of nature and culture and how we position ourselves within the world. Much of the work reflects on perception, on re-contextualizing the familiar or iconic, on how we mythologize the world around us. Acclaimed for their simplicity and elegance, artworks by Nancy Chew and Jacqueline Metz can be found in cities across North America.
Their other public artworks in Surrey include Still Point/From the Centre Outwards, The Meeting of Mind and Body, and water's edge.