Wayfarer
There was much debate and discussion over where to place this bench. I prefer it in this location directly in line with the tail of Dry Creek.
intention
The idea for this piece came early in the installation design phase. Before Accumulation was in it’s present location that wall as you left the gallery was empty. There was a suggestion that I use if for text - artist statement, etc. It didn’t feel right. In one of those early critiques it was Jonathan who asked me how I felt about including a log as a bench allowing visitors to ‘sit by the creek’. I loved the idea and immediately saw the connections of rest areas and overlooks that I had been wondering how to reference. It was really the perfect way to fill in that ‘gap’.
As the installation progressed, however there was no longer a ‘gap’. I was forced to either relocate Wayfarer or exclude it from the gallery. I decided to include it and I also decided to break my rule of the ‘horizontal line’ that travels around the gallery walls. Like Dry Creek and perhaps Collection this piece breaks that perpendicular line. I think this piece balances Collection at the other corner of the gallery. I love how the tail of the line curves directly toward the bench – it is the best place to sit and view the installation.
Currently the material is very ‘rustic’ but I plan to clean up the edges, sand and smooth the top of the plank, and put a protective finish on the wood.
continued design
Because I am an unskilled woodworker I have had to work with the schedules of more skilled craftsmen. I cut the slab myself with a chainsaw mill under the supervision of my husband, David. Also under his supervision I used a circular saw to cut the ends perpendicular to the grain, preserving one end of the slab to create a waterfall edge. Over the next week or so I will be working with Jonathan in the sculpture studio to make a table saw sled large enough to create the mitered cuts necessary to waterfall that edge. Then I will be learning to cut and weld steel to create the alternate leg out of square stock.
I had hoped to get at least one welding project under my belt before I graduated - this is my chance.
In the mean time I felt that the salvaged cinderblocks were in keeping with the aesthetics of the material that I have found and included in Dry Creek while also providing the stability to make the piece functional.
deinstallation
I hope to continue a practice of furniture or functional sculpture making. If this piece is successful I would consider selling this piece.