SALEM, MASS.- The Peabody Essex Museum presents Branching Out: Trees as Art, an exhibition in the museum's Art & Nature Center that explores the often unexpected ways in which contemporary artists use trees as an inspiration and a medium. Made from bark, wood, roots, seedpods, leaves, fossilized resin (amber) and biosignals, more than 35 varied works and a selection of hands-on interactive opportunities ask us to consider our relationship with trees as a vital natural force. Branching Out is on view September 27, 2014 to September 20, 2015.

"I still remember being awed by certain old trees as a kid and my frustration at trying to draw their complex forms," said Jane Winchell, The Sarah Fraser Robbins Director of the Art & Nature Center at PEM. "We share a special bond with trees. We've built homes from them, burned them for heat and discovered life-saving medicines in their bark and leaves. It's little surprise that trees have become a universal symbol of life and the source of inspiration for many artists working today."

Branching Out features an array of inspiring artworks by contemporary artists who work directly with live trees or creatively engage with tree materials. The works are as diverse as they are unusual. Artist David Yann Robert recorded the bioelectrical signals in a beech tree using an acupuncture needle. With the help of a sophisticated computer program, he converted the tree's biosystem activity into a drawing, a process captured in a 17-minute time-lapse video and sound piece called Bokträd (beech tree).

Another equally engaging work is a photograph by James Balog of a 242-foot, 2,000-year-old giant sequoia named Stagg. Considered the world's fifth largest tree, it was captured in segments by Balog, who rappelled down a neighboring tree while shooting more than 400 photographs that he later stitched together digitally to create a 93-inch tall vertical panoramic composite. Two climbers, appearing as red specks in the photograph, help the viewer grasp the tree's immense scale.

For her site-specific installation in the Atrium, Falling leaves, artist Joan Backes displays hundreds of leaves she gathered from locations around the world, while artist Beth Galston created a 300-foot-long rope with acorn caps she collected from under a single red oak in Boston's Arnold Arboretum.

Branching Out is the second exhibition in PEM's redesigned and expanded Art & Nature Center. Featuring fresh exhibition spaces, art studios, interactive stations and amenities for young families, the Art & Nature Center attracts adult and children audiences alike with an ever-rotating roster of programs, activity stations, multimedia elements and annual exhibitions that highlight the vital connections between human creativity and the natural world.