Passage
Poplar, 9'x6'x5'
July 2015
Dara Solliday and I made Passage to function as a gateway and viewport for the landscape.
It emerged from a conversation about how to respond to Carkeek Park as context. Do we emulate the surroundings in form and material? Or, do we introduce something completely foreign, and compel park visitors to re-examine their expectations? In the end we chose a middle ground—a shape that echoes the natural—the Olympics which can be seen through it—but is also a portal and a frame to the landscape, very definitely man-made. This intent is carried through in the material, we allow the wood to show though, but load it with color.
The color shift and the propagation of the basic shape, expressing small changes in each iteration, is designed to give further directionality to the piece to give focus to the viewer. We hope that Passage, by imposing a fabricated frame on the landscape, will engage visitors in a closer examination of it.
This sculpture was part of Heaven and Earth VII exhibition, in Carkeek Park, July to October 2015.
