Tree Trunks Find Second Life in Mind-Bending Artwork

When a tree falls, Jason Middlebrook brings it back to life. The 

New York-based artist paints on discarded wood and found, natural materials to create intricate works of art that can be hung on the wall.

Fascinated by the rings each trunk grows in a lifetime, Middlebrook paints and carves stumps with stark geometric shapes in bright colors. The result is what the exhibit calls "a jarring yet elegant juxtaposition of natural unpredictability with rigidly calculated forms." The meeting of natural and unnatural shapes also finds use for wood that would otherwise be thrown away. 

If you would like to see some of Middlebrook's art in person, you can see his sparkling installation, Gold Rush, at the Peters Projects gallery in Santa Fe.

[h/t: Creative Boom]