EMERITUS
(Black Spruce)
John Grade鈥檚 monumental sculpture, was a temporary installation inspired by the form of an absent tree. Suspended in the middle of a sea of black spruce on a small island in Interior Alaska on Ahtna land were 12 forms suspended from nets anchored to surrounding trees. They amassed around a central hollow ghostly space of an imagined spruce trunk. The forms encompassed thousands of cast resin and carved salvaged wood pieces that referenced spruce cones, needles, and branches. Lower suspended pieces carved in wood and superficially burned invoked the trees鈥� complex relationship to wildfire.
Like many of Grade鈥檚 works 鈥� which are commonly transformed by the action of rain, wind, insects, weather, and other forces 鈥� the intent of was to live parallel to, and be transformed by, our regional botanical ecosystem. The first iteration of Emeritus on the Oregon State University campus in 2022-2023 can be seen . Grade鈥檚 past projects in collaboration with the 果冻传煤 Museum include Spark and Murmur.
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IN THE NEWS
Read about some of Grade鈥檚 past work:
(Seattle Times)
(Colossal)
(World Economic Forum)
(KTOO Public Media)
