VOTIVE, URN, TREE + NEST
Wild Cure Exhibition Slip Gallery 2023
VOTIVE
Metal, driftwood, netting strands, spent bull kelp stipe and rings, pine needles, terracotta pigment
During the run of the exhibit, visitors were invited to attach a pine need pair.
The metal armature is from an upholstered chair that a high tide delivered to the beach.
URN
Ceramic, rock, spent bull kelp float and stipe, quill, oyster shell, pine needles, terracotta pigment
The dried bull kelp wreath wrapped around the ceramic remnant in this assemblage was originally the kelp sculpture in the photo above.
The pigment is ground from the ubiquitous ruddy orange seabrick shards that litter the beach.
TREE
Driftwood, spent bull kelp blades and stipe, concrete column, bark, terracotta pigment, stones
During the run of the exhibit, visitors were invited to drop a stone in the column.
A freshly-spent, intact bull kelp is a gift because they often arrive on shore decayed or missing their blades or holdfast. The driftwood in this assemblage was wrapped with fresh blades that subsequently dried. Coiled around the column and driftwood is a dried stipe. Learn more about bull kelp at this link.
These stones have taken many forms on the beach and join this assemblage for the exhibition.
NEST
Driftwood, stone, vine wreaths, netting strands, spent and dried bull kelp blades, concrete columnm terracotta pigment
An unassuming stone from the beach, rubbed with pigment, takes center stage in this assemblage. Imagine the geologic journey of rocks such as this one, many of which are not native to the Pacific Northwest, but arrived here due to glacial movement thousands of years ago.
