Fertility, 1997 - 2018

Mixed media installation: single ball of oranges, single ball of Cow Parsnip, many balls of wildflower/grasses, Emu eggs, Bao Bab seed pods, shells, papier mache, crayon drawing, twine and paint.
Dimensions: 10 x 2 x 2 feet

Artist Statement
This piece started at the summer workshop, Prairie North 96, in Grande Prairie, Alberta. The idea began by walking the countryside searching for interesting natural construction materials with which to produce a number of organic forms. I discovered dried Cow Parsnip plants on the cusp of opening to release their seeds. This collected material inspired me to create a form focused on fertility and reproduction. 

Tent caterpillars were especially bad that summer and observing their nests hanging by the hundreds in the trees influenced how this sculpture developed. The Cow Parsnips were threaded and bound. The final stage was to create a skin that would cover, but also reveal, the storehouse of movement and process within the form.

The other elements, a ball formed of dried oranges, a multitude of wildflower/grass balls, painted Bao Bab seed pods, Emu eggs and covered shells were added some 20 years later.