“What exists in the space between presence and absence? This is the space I spiritually live in, as I am Making Roots.”
– Natacha Villamia Sochat
🌿 The Living Spirit of Trees
Roots Trees and Canopies explores the spiritual and ecological connections that bind all living things. Trees have always embodied the sacred for me. They breathe with the earth, share nutrients through hidden roots, and protect us beneath their canopies of leaves. Even when shaped by storms or time, they remain vibrantly alive.
Moreover, each tree is both an individual and part of a larger whole. Their strength arises not from isolation but from connection. Beneath the surface, vast networks of roots communicate and sustain entire forests. These unseen systems mirror the invisible patterns that unite us as human beings.
🌱 Hidden Networks and Human Connection
In many ways, the roots beneath the soil are as essential as the branches that reach toward the light. Trees have inspired and supported life long before humans existed. Because of this, they remind us of our place within a greater living system.
As a result, the works in Roots Trees and Canopies reflect this shared vitality. They grow from my deep love of trees and from my belief that every living thing participates in a vast conversation of life. In addition, these paintings reveal how nature’s quiet intelligence sustains the balance between giving and receiving.
🍃 Interdependence and Ubuntu
We are all connected—spiritually and invisibly. Every action or inaction affects the balance that sustains our world. Ultimately, there is only one race, the human race, and all beings coexist in a fragile harmony. The Earth will continue with or without us; therefore, our survival depends on learning to care for the living systems that sustain us.
This is where my favorite word lives: Ubuntu — I am because we are.
Through Roots Trees and Canopies, I celebrate trees as a living community—beautiful, wise, and enduring. Thus, these paintings invite reflection on the balance between presence and absence, the seen and unseen, the self and the world.
🌸 Explore More
See more of my NeuroMorphic Universe series
You can also explore my Face Pattern works
A link to the solo exhibition Between Presence and Absence (Making Roots) at the Carrack Modern Art in Durham NC.
A link to a small solo exhibition I had of Making Roots in 2020 Raleigh NC CMAC Gallery
