Gentle Touch
LIMITED EDITION RELEASE
Some photographs are taken.
Others have to be lived.
A photograph born from an unexpected night in Tasmania's ancient forests.
THE STORY BEHIND THE IMAGE
My connection to lutruwita-Tasmania extends back much of my life, but in 2023 I began undertaking annual art residencies focused on studying and documenting the island's gentle giants and ancient Gondwanan tree species. Since then, I have returned each year, revisiting these wild landscapes and discovering new ways of seeing the natural world.
During that first residency, I attended a conference in Hobart exploring the role of art in environmental advocacy. It was there that I first encountered the term witness tree—a tree selected for its desirable characteristics and left standing while the surrounding ancient forest is cleared, providing seed for a new plantation.
Through the mycelial networks beneath the forest floor, trees exist in relationship with one another, exchanging resources and responding to signals of stress and change. Knowing this, I couldn't help but wonder what a witness tree might experience as the ancient forest around it disappeared. The thought of a single tree remaining, unable to move, unable to cry out, simply bearing witness to the destruction around it stayed with me.
Not long afterwards, I encountered one myself.
The ground was still smoking.
Witness Tree by Melissa Hammond
I had travelled to lutruwita-Tasmania to see the Valley of the Giants in the Styx Valley, but before reaching them I found myself unexpectedly standing before this tree, confronted by the reality of what I had only recently learned. The silence in that landscape was visceral. It felt hauntingly empty of the life and history that had stood there only days before.
Just down the road, everything changed. What surprised me most was not just their height, but the extraordinary abundance of life. The forest floor resembled a terrestrial reef, alive with mosses, fungi and countless endemic species. Moss-covered trunks stretched so high above me that I couldn't bend my neck back any further.
The silence I experienced there was entirely different.
It felt full.
The pressure in my ears was immense. I found myself constantly trying to pop them. It felt as though the forest was alive with conversations beyond my perception and understanding. I later learned there was a physical explanation for this—the sounds of countless living organisms reverberating through the forest, blending into what we perceive as silence.
Among those giants was one particular tree that I return to again and again. Standing beside it brought an immediate sense of calm. Resting against its moss-covered trunk, I felt supported, held and deeply connected to the landscape around me.
Over time, this tree became part of my Tasmanian story.
Picture: The Towering Giant by Melissa Hammond
Last year, while travelling back to lutruwita-Tasmania for another residency, I had learned that another area of old-growth forest in the Styx Valley was under threat.
The tree I had come to love had been saved more than a decade earlier through the efforts of forest defenders, volunteers and conservation organisations who fought to protect the area. Their work ultimately secured protection for the forest, allowing people like me to experience these remarkable giants today.
When I heard that nearby forest was scheduled for logging, I wanted to learn more and contribute in whatever small way I could. I attended an information day, met forest defenders, listened to their stories and visited the proposed logging coupe to document what I could, including the tree marked to become the next witness tree.
The future is bleak for you. By Melissa Hammond
What I did not expect was to spend the night there.
Someone with the intent of causing harm to the volunteers intentionally jammed the lock on the gate, making it impossible to leave if there was an emergency. We were all trapped. It was a frightening situation, and one that could easily have become dangerous as darkness fell.
Yet what stayed with me was not the fear.
It was the kindness.
While we waited for help to arrive, we gathered around a campfire with cups of tea warming cold hands. We could have easily spent the evening talking about the person who had locked us in but instead, we spoke about why we were there.
Their stories have stayed with me ever since.
We spoke about connection—to place, to community and to the natural resources that sustain our lives. We reflected on how easily modern life disconnects us from the origins of the things we use every day, and the consequences unfolding when that relationship breaks down. During those conversations, I found myself reflecting on my own practice. I used to love framing my artwork in Tassie Oak, but it was during my second art residency in Tasmania that I found out it actually came from old-growth forests, destroying the very thing I loved and was trying to protect. I simply had no idea.
That realisation reinforced why I make this work—to help make the invisible visible.
The following morning, after finally being able to leave, I returned to my favourite tree just down the road. I rested against its moss-covered trunk and allowed the events of the previous evening to settle. When I eventually stood to leave, I noticed something I had never seen before.
The shape of the trunk resembled a hand gently touching the earth.
I had visited this tree every year and had never seen it before. Yet after a night spent reflecting on our relationship with the natural world, it suddenly revealed itself. What moved me was not simply the shape of the hand, but what it seemed to express. The tree wasn't taking from the earth. It wasn't suppressing it. To me, it was just gently touching.
Gentle Touch by Melissa Hammond
During my first residency in Tasmania, while struggling to process the devastation I was witnessing for the first time, I was given a piece of advice that has stayed with me ever since:
Lead with love, not fear.
Another piece of wisdom that has remained with me came from Bob Brown: "Don't get depressed, get active." This has been especially helpful when all seems lost.
The environmental challenges we face can often feel overwhelming. Sharing the images of destruction are important in helping us understand what is at risk, but I was reminded that sharing what we love, and why it matters, can be just as powerful.
That is what Gentle Touch became.
For me, the photograph speaks to reciprocity. It is a reminder that forests are not simply places we visit or resources we extract from, but living communities that sustain biodiversity, regulate climate and support life far beyond their boundaries.
I am able to stand beneath this tree today because people before me chose to protect it. Their actions remind me that every one of us can make a difference.
By revealing a gesture hidden within the forest, Gentle Touch seeks to make visible the beauty, wisdom and vulnerability held within these ancient ecosystems, inviting a renewed sense of connection and care.
Gentle Touch was selected as a finalist in the 2026 Goulburn Art Award, offering the opportunity to share this story with a wider audience and invite conversations about our relationship with the natural world. Now that the exhibition has concluded, I’m releasing it as a limited edition fine art print, inviting those conversations to continue beyond the walls of the gallery.
In recognition of the ongoing work of the Bob Brown Foundation to protect Australia's old-growth forests, 20% of profits from all edition sales will be donated to support their efforts. The remaining funds will support my return to Tasmania to continue documenting the ancient forests and gentle giants, helping to share the stories of places that cannot speak for themselves, but whose future depends on the choices we make.
AVAILABLE EDITIONS
Signed Limited Edition: 10 + AP
Professional fine art print on museum-quality archival cotton rag paper
Size including white border: 65 cm W x 89 cm H
Unframed
For framing options, please contact the artist here.
Signed Limited Edition: 20 + AP
Professional fine art print on museum-quality archival cotton rag paper
Size: 20.3 cm W x 25.4 cm H (8 × 10")
Unframed
The image measures 5 × 7" and is surrounded by a white border, creating a finished 8 × 10" print designed to fit in standard picture frames.
ALL ORDERS:
20% of profits from every print sold will be donated to the Bob Brown Foundation to support the protection of Tasmania's ancient forests.
Each print is individually signed and numbered by the artist, accompanied by a signed Certificate of Authenticity, and carefully packaged for tracked shipping. To ensure the highest quality and minimise waste, every edition is professionally printed to order by Lucent Imaging. Please allow 2–3 weeks for your print to be printed, signed and prepared for shipping.
INTERNATIONAL ORDERS:
International collectors are warmly welcomed. Online checkout is currently available for Australian deliveries only. If you wish to purchase from outside Australia, please contact the artist here to arrange your order and receive a personalised international shipping quote.
International collectors are also responsible for any customs duties, VAT, import taxes or brokerage fees charged by their country.
Prints & Sustainability
Each print is produced to museum standards using premium archival materials and is professionally printed in Canberra, Australia by Lucent Imaging.
Lucent Imaging is 100% carbon-neutral with its carbon offsets invested in planting trees within Western Australia's Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor.
As an artist raising awareness about our relationship with the natural world, my work doesn't stop with the image I create. I also need to consider how my work is brought into the world. Choosing a print partner like Lucent Imaging, who are actively working to reduce their environmental impact, is one way I can ensure my practice reflects the values at the heart of my work.
To learn more about Lucent Imaging and their environmentally sustainable printing practices, click the button below.