Living Relic- Yellow-Cedar and the Anthropocene

Aluminum diamond plate, yellow-cedar core sample, line graph | 16’ x 4’ x 5’ | 2023

This project was created as a site-specific installation for the Surge exhibit at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, WA. I partnered with dendrochronologist Christopher Robertson (scientist of tree rings) to explore the significance of the ancient and climate sensitive Yellow-Cedar tree. The large sculptural form is an abstract study of an existing Yellow-Cedar snag near tree line on Mt. Baker, WA. This sculpture in combination with a core sample of a nearby specimen as well as a line graph measuring the width of it’s annual growth rings attempt to portray on an “actual” scale of this period in Earth’s history know as the Anthropocene- the epoch when humans have begun to influence the climate of our planet.

Read our full Exhibition Statement here.