Situated in the forests of the Catskill Mountains – part of the larger Appalachian Mountains in North America -, Monologue began with my desire to speak to the trees, sustained by the hope that nature might one day respond.

In 2020, the pandemic grounded my family in a Catskills cottage, where I spent long hours in the woods. Through photography, I collected forest scenes as records of environmental conditions and personal memory. Observing both natural and human-induced changes — including a logger’s proposal to harvest trees on our land — deepened my awareness of the intimate, consequential relationship between humans and nature.

In Catskill Mountains, forests and trees are both the very reality and metaphors for the physical, philosophical, political, social, and moral energies. I wanted to converse with the trees, also with the people - my neighbors, long-term residents, farmers, and travelers — to understand their thoughts and imaginations about the trees in this region. I started to collect their thoughts and memories through conversation and the “Thoughts-Collecting Boxes” placed in public venues such as local libraries and community spaces.

“Monologue” evolved into a platform on which photographs, collected texts, and my own act of interventions intertwine. It blurs the boundary between the documentation of the past and a projection of the future. The simultaneous presence of reality and fiction in these works created dialogues that examine the narratives and perspectives, and the “given” and the “created”.

“Monologue” is like a tree talking in the deep forest – quiet and solitary, yet capable of igniting dialogue even in its absence.

Hai Zhang | Artist