ARCTIC TREE
Nordstrom, New York, NY.
2018
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A companion to the Middle Fork sculpture, Arctic Tree is modeled on a cast made from a poplar tree growing 100 miles above the Arctic Circle, on the northwest slope of the Brooks Range in Alaska. The living tree that was chosen is one from amongst very few stands of trees growing so far north above the Arctic Circle. A large cinnamon-colored grizzly bear was found sleeping at the base of this tree, requiring Grade to wait until it ambled away in order to as quickly as possible make a plaster cast. The surface of the tree’s bark was loaded with fur from the bear, who had been using it as a scratching post.
IMAGES
Arctic Tree, 2015 – 2018, Salvaged western red cedar. 21’ H x 5’ x 4’. Originally exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art’s Renwick Gallery (DC) in 2015, the sculpture was then shown at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum (LA) in 2016 and at Davidson Galleries, Seattle (WA) in 2017. The sculpture is now permanently installed within the permanent collection of Nordstroms in New York, NY
ARCTIC TREE
Nordstrom, New York, NY.
2018
A companion to the Middle Fork sculpture, Arctic Tree is modeled on a cast made from a poplar tree growing 100 miles above the Arctic Circle, on the northwest slope of the Brooks Range in Alaska. The living tree that was chosen is one from amongst very few stands of trees growing so far north above the Arctic Circle. A large cinnamon-colored grizzly bear was found sleeping at the base of this tree, requiring Grade to wait until it ambled away in order to as quickly as possible make a plaster cast. The surface of the tree’s bark was loaded with fur from the bear, who had been using it as a scratching post.
IMAGES
Arctic Tree, 2015 – 2018, Salvaged western red cedar. 21’ H x 5’ x 4’. Originally exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art’s Renwick Gallery (DC) in 2015, the sculpture was then shown at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum (LA) in 2016 and at Davidson Galleries, Seattle (WA) in 2017. The sculpture is now permanently installed within the permanent collection of Nordstroms in New York, NY.