Morning Oak is a portrait of an anonymous nineteenth century Iroquois woman. Wearing her finest dress, adorned with beads and silver ornaments, she is rooted to the earth like an oak tree.
“Of all the trees I have met,” says Gerry, “the oak is by far the most sublime. With its roots firmly embedded in the earth and its powerful limbs reaching out to the sky, it represents the quintessence of nature.”
In this portrait, Gerry has attempted to represent her as spirit, as the essence of ancient knowledge, greeting the rising sun, the provider of life to the Haudenosaunee.