Pallet of Bricks, 2011
Glazed bricks, wood
Nicholas Nyland
American, born 1976
Courtesy of the artist
Special thanks to Mutual Materials, Mica, WA
Interested in pattern, decoration, and ornamentation, Nicholas Nyland adorned standard bricks, nylon rope, and a wooden pallet to create three distinct sculptures placed throughout the park—their embellished surfaces echo the shades of flowers in this landscape. Pallet of Bricks and Flemish Lines, placed farther down the Z-Path, allude to nautical activity. In this context, they remind viewers of shipping vessels carrying cargo or docking on Puget Sound. Trained as a painter, Nyland’s title he gave to this sculpture makes a playful nod to the artist’s palette.
Embroidered Path, 2011
Glazed bricks
Nicholas Nyland
American, born 1976
Courtesy of the artist
Special thanks to Mutual Materials, Mica, WA
Using readymade bricks that he painted with vibrant glazes and then fired, Nicholas Nyland created Embroidered Path, a sculpture masquerading as a garden path. Placed directly into the soil so that each brick is seamlessly integrated into the Meadow, this modest work recalls decorative walkways used in formal and backyard gardens, further revealing our attempts to shape nature. Visitors are encouraged to walk on Nyland’s Embroidered Path through the Meadow.
Flemish Lines, 2011
Acrylic on nylon rope
Nicholas Nyland
American, born 1976
Courtesy of the artist
Interested in pattern, decoration, and ornamentation, Nicholas Nyland adorned nylon rope, standard bricks, and a wooden pallet to create three distinct sculptures placed throughout the park—their embellished surfaces echo shades of flowers blooming in this landscape. Flemish Lines, alludes to nautical activity and in this context reminds us of the passing ships carrying cargo or docking on the Puget Sound. In nautical terms, a “Flemish Coil” (often called a French-fake) refers to the manner in which a rope is wrapped in an orderly set of coils or circles, a method creatively interpreted by the artist in these three sculptures.
Air Below Ground, 2011
Wood (During the exhibition a number of installations will take place within the structure and a variety of materials will be used.)
Carolina Silva
Spanish, born 1976
Courtesy of the artist
The wooden platform and frame, as well as a series of actions the artist Carolina Silva has composed to take place in, on, around, or underneath the sculpture were conceived specifically for this site. Silva, who will create new work in the structure throughout the summer, is interested in the process by which sculpture is defined, engaged with and realized. An evolving work, her activities will engage a variety of materials, including lights, sound, fog, clay, and balloons that will expand viewers’ interaction with a sculptural object, one that is in a constant state of transformation.
Support for artwork by Carolina Silva is provided by:
The Jetty, 2011
Carved driftwood log from the mouth of the Nehalem River at Nehalem Bay South Jetty, latex paint
Gretchen Bennett
American, born 1960
Courtesy of the artist
Inspired by her familial ties to the Oregon Coast, Gretchen Bennett made a trip to the mouth of the Nehalem River and salvaged this driftwood log from the beach onto which she carved and painted a design appropriated from a blanket pattern from the Pendleton Woolen Mills Company’s National Parks Blanket designs. The colors she used were informed by the colors of the Oregon grape, the state flower found in the Grove. If you continue to walk through the Meadow to your right, you’ll encounter Bennett’s sculpture, Walking Stick from Nadonna Beach.
Walking Stick from Nadonna Beach, 2011
Driftwood, carved oak sapling wood from the Olympic Sculpture Park, latex paint
Gretchen Bennett
American, born 1960
Courtesy of the artist
Driven by her interest in the genre of landscape and her quest to weave into her work the cultural, historical, and natural landscapes that define the Pacific Northwest, Gretchen Bennett collaged elements from this region into the concept and design of her three sculptures at the park. If you continue further along the path through the Meadow, past the walking stick, you will discover Bennett’s carved wood sculpture, The Jetty.
Specter, 2011
Blown glass, hemp rope
Gretchen Bennett
American, born 1960
Courtesy of the artist
If you look up into the branches of the Metasequoia (Dawn Redwood) tree, you will discover Gretchen Bennett’s unassuming sculpture Specter, a hand-blown glass form wrapped and secured with netting. Inspired by Japanese glass floats that used to wash up along the shores of the Oregon coast, the iridescent green glass of Bennett’s sculpture is buoyant and hangs like an apparition displaced from its original context and its intended use.
