"The Root of Matter"

Remarks:

A piece of found wood—a fragment of bark—is nestled into a hand-formed depression within a sheet of copper. This fragment is not merely placed but carefully encased, held by molten tin that flows around its contours and solidifies as both a protective boundary and frame. The copper sheet is etched with marks that mimic and extend the bark’s natural striations, tracing its patterns like an echo or memory pressed into metal. Through this process, the living texture of the wood is translated into a new, enduring surface. A patina washes across the copper, deepening its tones into earthy greens and browns that mirror the natural weathering of the bark and suggest the slow passage of time.

From beneath the top section, copper wire is twisted, shaped, and treated to resemble roots, spreading outward in organic lines that reconnect the fragment to an imagined whole. These roots do not simply anchor—they re-establish the bark within the symbolic form of the tree, extending its life beyond what was cut or fallen. The interplay of wood and metal creates a layered metaphor: the bark represents the remnant of what once lived, the tin serves as both preservation and transformation, and the copper—etched, patinated, and rooted—reconstructs the larger body of the tree it once belonged to.

In bringing these materials together, the sculpture becomes a meditation on memory, regeneration, and the dialogue between natural decay and human craft. The fragment of bark, once separated from its source, is given new context and permanence. The metal components do not simply contain it, but restore it into a form that recalls its origin while also pointing toward continuity and rebirth. In this way, the work honors both the tree it came from and the enduring cycle of transformation that defines the natural world.