Bart Ensing creates sculptures relating to his living environment. In his professional life, he spent a long time working in spatial policy and international trade and only later found his way to art. He sees his creative work as a search for forms to express his ideas and feelings.

Geworteld
2019, iron, paper, jute, nylon, paint
80cm x 80cm x 40cm

Geworteld depicts fungal threads on tree roots, so-called mycelia. The work symbolizes the assumption that trees communicate with each other via roots and mycelia using electrical impulses. Nutrients are also exchanged via these networks: the tree supplies the fungus with sugar, while the fungus provides nutrients from the soil to the tree. The microscopically fine mycelia grow underground and are usually invisible to us. For a long time, their essential role for the survival of trees was not known. Bart Ensing’s work depicts the mycelia and their network, allowing us to see this otherwise invisible system. A healthy forest is not just an accumulation of trees, but an ecosystem in which all relationships are crucial to its stability and its ability to adapt to a changing climate.