Fantasy Forest: An Interactive Art Installation Takes Root at Crooked Tree

Petoskey is buzzing with news of the spectacular Fantasy Forest which has blossomed at the Crooked Tree Arts Center.
Saginaw artist Roz Berlin has created a woven forest of hundreds of spectral trees rising as high as 15 feet and filling the West Gallery.
A graduate of the art program at Michigan State University, Berlin has been “growing” her colorful forest for over 30 years. Employing a four harness floor loom, she has woven her trees using a blend of natural and synthetic fibers. Just like a real forest, her “new growth” has changed and evolved over the years to shape a deep, dense grove for wandering.
At last week’s opening, the forest was the setting for an interactive, interdisciplinary celebration. In plainspeak, that means a happening, with dance, music, costumed food servers and area residents having a good time finding their way down the “trails” in the forest.
The exhibition continues through February at the Art Center, located at 461 East Mitchell Street, Petoskey. Hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10a.m. until 4 p.m. Info: (231) 347-4337.

Land of the Crooked Tree
What is “The Land of the Crooked Tree”? Kalamazoo artist Ladislav R. Hanka set out to determine just that, and has created a gallery full of drawings and etchings based on his experience of roaming the woods of Northern Michigan.
His exhibition runs in tandem with the Fantasy Forest through February in the Edith Gilbert Gallery at Crooked Tree Arts Center.
“The original namesake Crooked Tree, growing on the bluff above Middle Village is long gone, swept by fall storms into Lake Michigan, but its story has inspired me to search out other crooked trees,” Hanka says.
Last fall, Hanka began a quest to research the “Crooked Tree” and create new works dedicated to its theme. After several lengthy conversations with local Ottawa elders, Hanka traveled the backwoods of the region in search of specific tree formations.
Hanka has graduate degrees in art and zoology, having studied at Colorado State University, Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University as well as in Bonn, Vienna and Prague. His tree portraits are eery, moody and dreamy -- a fitting complement to the Fantasy Forest.


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