A Barren Tree

2025

In 2020, right after my father died, my mother decided to have the plum tree cut down. The decision suddenly felt urgent, but I managed to be there with a camera as the tree was felled. In the video, you see my brother sawing the tree, followed later by my mother raking up the branches and leaves.

I don’t know what motivated my mother to cut down the tree. Perhaps it was part of her grief after my father’s death, or perhaps the barren tree had come to represent something that was no longer needed. Fruit trees are planted to produce fruit, and when they stop doing so, their purpose can seem lost. This idea of usefulness and reproduction makes me think about my own choice to remain childfree and about the expectations placed on women’s bodies to produce and continue the family line.