Into the Woods: Feeling the Benefits of Forest Bathing in Art
“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity... and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.” — William Blake.
In 2021, I read Yoshifumi Miyazaki’s Walking in the Woods, which explores how “forest bathing” can benefit our physical and mental health. It was the winter Covid lockdown, so the perfect read to escape outside into the nature of our imaginations when we couldn’t leave our postcodes.
In our modern urban (and increasingly technological) lives it is all too easy to feel overwhelmed. Wellbeing gurus suggest getting out, feeling our feet in the dirt, and bathing in the vibrations of nature! But a trip to the woods is not always feasible. So how about we try a form of forest bathing at home? Through art perhaps.
A Space for Refuge
The idea of retreating from the world has a long heritage in China. Scholars and artists alike sought refuge in nature at times of societal turmoil and those who could not, travelled through their imagination by contemplating landscape paintings. Zoom in to Wang Meng’s Forest Chamber Grotto, get close, technology lets us in on the detail. At first the composition is claustrophobic, the forestry is dense, but follow the winding pathway up the mountain, and peek into the little huts with people inside, some reading, some drinking tea, peacefully. We can’t always retreat to the countryside, but perhaps we can incorporate a quiet simplicity into our days, to seek mental refuge in nature, if not physical.
Wang Meng, Forest Chamber Grotto, c.1368. The Palace Museum, Taipei. Wikimedia
A Moment of Calm Reflection
Caspar David Friedrich, Early Snow, 1828, oil on canvas. Kunsthalle Hamburg, Germany. Wikimedia
No piece discussing the art of nature and forestry would be complete without the Romantics, a group of artists, writers and thinkers who reacted to the breakneck speed of the 18th and 19th centuries by returning to nature. Caspar David Friedrich’s Early Snow is characteristic of German Romanticism. Though the forest trees are inky dark, the image does not feel threatening, rather it offers an opportunity to calm the senses through the stillness of the composition, the cold of a snowy day, and the pin drop silence of a landscape undisturbed by industry or urbanisation. Friedrich was a profoundly spiritual man, to him nature was made by the hand of God, but whatever one’s spiritual or religious preferences, we can connect to ourselves through the quiet contemplation of nature.
An Opportunity for the Imagination
Berthe Morisot, Wooded Landscape, 19th century, watercolours on paper. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Aimée and Rosamond Lamb. Wikimedia
Impressionist Berthe Morisot was one of the few professional female artists working in the 19th century. Her Wooded Landscape is a blend of fluid brush strokes, vibrant green hues and suggestions of figures and forms. Its very lack of detail invites us to fill in the gaps from our own experiences of forest walks. For a fully immersive experience, I recommend playing her contemporary Claude Debussy’s Prélude à L’Après-midi d’un faune alongside. Apart from being an utterly wonderful piece of music in its own right, this work captures the magic of the forest and compliments this impressionist depiction of nature beautifully.