The sketch below results from Paul Klee’s idea, put simply, that an artist can be likened to a tree. Recalling another Klee notion that the role of an artist is not to reproduce what is visible but “to make visible” what can’t be seen. In that regard, the roots of a tree represent the hidden influences and history that, filtered through the artist, becomes what is visible in the tree’s crown: visible manifestations of that which lies below.

Much more about this metaphor can be found in Claudia Baracchi’s article Paul Klee: Self-Portrait of the Artist as a Tree, found in ‘Paul Klee Philosophical Vision: From Nature to Art’, John Sallis editor, McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Distributed by The University of Chicago Press 2012.