Big Chimney Structure

Description: This beautiful tree carving serves as a reminder of what is considered the first permanent structure in Falls Church. The original cabin dating back to 1699 was made of logs with a large chimney on either end. 

As a chainsaw artist, Andrew Mallon of Northern Virginia specializes in transforming wood into sculpture.  Working with dying or dead trees, many of them oaks, Mallon infuses them with new life as art, many featuring images of Northern Virginia wildlife. 

At Arlington’s Washington-Liberty High School Mallon found his passion in school art class. When he wasn’t able to fit in a sculpture class at school, he pursued a course at the Arlington Career Center that inspired him to become a full-time carpenter after graduation. 

Early in his professional career, Mallon had little experience using chainsaws but he had seen chainsaw artists on television. Later, while whittling small pieces of wood, he found inspiration to explore the chainsaw as an artistic tool to tackle bigger projects. In 2016 he opened his own company to become a full-time professional chainsaw sculptor. Ironically, he may be inspiring the next generation of chainsaw artists now that he was selected to appear in the 2022 Discovery Channel series, A Cut Above. Filmed in British Columbia, Canada, the series featured twelve chainsaw carvers from around the world as they competed in an elimination contest. 

Mallon has created multiple works in the city from Woodland Creatures in Cherry Hill Park, to Big Chimneys Park eponymous sculpture, Mallon enjoys creating work that is so publicly accessible rather than hidden away indoors. Like many of his projects, the thirteen foot Big Chimneys includes Northern Virginia wildlife, namely a raccoon relaxing at the hearth and some mischievously exploring the top of the chimney. 

For the sculpture at Big Chimneys Park, Mallon converted an old oak tree at the end of its life, into a vision of what one of the two Big Chimneys might have looked like as part of the first permanent structure believed to have been constructed within Falls Church City limits dating back to around 1699. To learn more about the story of Big Chimneys, visit the nearby park marker.

Artist: Andrew Mallon 

Year: 2021

Medium: Sculpture

Location: Big Chimneys Park, 210 Gibson St., Falls Church VA 22046

Ownership: Public Art

GPS: 38.882367, -77.174939