Whitewashed
In the series Whitewashed each sculpture grows from a single large round of ancient Douglas fir. Reflecting on deforestation and loss of forests to fires in the new reality of climate change, the works are literally whitewashed. Cracked and drowned in white paint, the rounds of the tree evoke the retreating and fractured Arctic ice pack and the threat to the existence of the polar bear. As we fail to arrest the build-up of greenhouse gases and global warming, the bears’ habitat also goes away. In its very title, the series Whitewashed holds us accountable for our delusion of concealment and lack of accountability.
Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus (Atlantic Sturgeon, 2024 Wood, tar, whitewash, found object Closed: 65.25" x 22.5" x 7.5" Open: 65.25" x 37" x 7.5" Courtesy of the Artist Photo credit: CB Bell (click to expand)
Thunnus thynnus (Atlantic Bluefin Tuna), 2024 Wood, tar, whitewash, found object Closed: 60.5" x 22.5" x 7.5" Open: 60.5" x 43" x 7.5" Courtesy of the Artist Photo credit: CB Bell (click to expand)
Pinguinis impennis (Great Auk), 2013 Wood, tar, whitewash, found object Open: 53" x 41" x 8" Courtesy of the Artist Photo credit: CB Bell (click to expand)
Three Birds (Labrador Duck, Passenger Pigeon, Eskimo Curlew), 2024 Wood, tar, whitewash, found object Open: 18.5" x 211" x 7.75" Courtesy of the Artist Photo credit: CB Bell (click to expand)
Three Birds (Labrador Duck, Passenger Pigeon, Eskimo Curlew), 2024 Wood, tar, whitewash, found object Open: 18.5" x 211" x 7.75" Courtesy of the Artist Photo credit: CB Bell (click to expand)
Three Birds (Labrador Duck, Passenger Pigeon, Eskimo Curlew)(detail), 2024 Wood, tar, whitewash, found object Open: 18.5" x 211" x 7.75" Courtesy of the Artist Photo credit: CB Bell (click to expand)
Three Birds (Labrador Duck, Passenger Pigeon, Eskimo Curlew)(detail), 2024 Wood, tar, whitewash, found object Open: 18.5" x 211" x 7.75" Courtesy of the Artist Photo credit: CB Bell (click to expand)
Whitewash (detail), 2024 Wood, tar, whitewash, found object Courtesy of the Artist Photo credit: CB Bell (click to expand)