Bleeding Yew II - Emily's Portfolio

Yew trees have repeatedly emerged in my research as negotiators of change: they can grow to be thousands of years old and are commonly associated with death, purgatory, regeneration, and religious worship sites. Their extended branches can root new trunks when they touch the ground. These rhizomatic, expansive growths have formed ancient groves like at Kingley Vale. In some trees here, patches of bark seep deep ruddy and mauve sap.

One theory about why yew trees bleed is that rainwater becomes soaked by the tree’s heartwood and then escapes through its bark, causing the pigment to become more pronounced (Woodland Trust). All parts of the tree are poisonous to humans, except for the fleshy red aril that encases its seed. Today, there is growing demand for the taxol compound found in the bark of Pacific Yew, due to its use as a cancer treatment. The yew tree is not a neutral symbol.

A Girl Standing Inside the Old Yew Tree on Rocky Lane in Perry Barr. 1898. Birmingham City Council Archives. By Photographer P. Whitehouse. Reference: WK-P3-37.

Self Portrait with Red Pain(t). Medium format photograph. 2024

Elder Tree in Ancient Yew Grove at Kingley Vale. South Downs, West Sussex. Medium format photograph. 2022.

Whittingehame Village Yew. East Lothian, Scotland. c.1938. Found archival postcard. Published by Raphael Tuck & Sons. Published by Raphael Tuck & Sons.

Extended Boughs in Kingley Vale Ancient Yew Grove. South Downs, West Sussex. Medium format photograph. 2022.

Carminotype: Animal Skull Inside Hollowed Out Yew Tree at Kingley Vale. South Downs, West Sussex. Digital scan of a cyanotype toned with beetroot emulsion. 2023.

Kingley Vale Ancient Yew Grove. South Downs, West Sussex. Medium format photograph. 2022.

Carminotype: Yew Needles. Digital scan of cyanotype toned with beetroot juice emulsion. 2023.

Yew Branch and Seeds. c.1945. Found archival illustration. In 'British Woodland Trees' by H.L. Edlin. Reference: 118. p.126.

Kingley Vale Ancient Yew Grove. South Downs, West Sussex. Medium format photograph. 2022.

Carminotype: Oliver Under Yew at Kingley Vale. South Downs, West Sussex. Cyanotype toned with beetroot emulsion. 2023.

Natural Bleeding Trunk and Rhizomatic Root Growth at Kingley Vale Ancient Yew Grove. South Downs, West Sussex. Medium format photograph. 2022.

Self Portrait with Yew Topiary. Medium format photograph. 2024.

Graveyard Yew at Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire. c.1930. Found archival postcard. Published by Raphael Tuck & Sons.

Yew Trees in St Mary's Churchyard. Ambleside, Cumbria. Medium format photograph. 2023.

Self Portrait with Yew Tree. Stanmer Village, East Sussex. 2023.

Carminotype: Holding Yew Seeds. Cyanotype toned with beetroot emulsion. 2024.

Yew Tree in Roundhay Park, Leeds. Medium format photograph. 2024.

Candles and Yew Tree. Roundhay Park, Leeds. Medium format photograph. 2024.

Some species of fungus, such as the sulphur bracket (chicken of the woods), can break down the insides of the trunk’s heartwood. Yew eventually becomes hollow with age, akin to the slow rotting of the old establishment’s core. The tree re-cycles decaying matter into re-territorialised growths, highlighting the possibility of reformulating destructive features within contemporary society.

These processes, while disintegrating internal systems, can, over time, strengthen external structures against breakages. They can thus grow flexibly and resiliently, with some ability to sway with the wind.

This series has been inspired by psychoanalytic approaches to art-making, and has been generously funded in-part by an Arts Council England 'Develop Your Creative Practice' project grant. If you, or anyone you know is affected by sexual abuse, these organisations provide information about where you can find further support:

Please also feel free to get in touch if you would like to discuss any aspects of this project.