Protect Ancient Forests Chair

The Protect Ancient Forests Chair.

This was exhibited (and sold) at the Sooke Fine Arts show which was from July 21st to August 1st, 2016. Below is part of the artist statement that accompanied it.

‘The inspiration for this chair has come from my volunteer work towards protecting the ancient forests of Vancouver Island, especially the Walbran Valley/ Kaxi:ks watershed an hour’s drive north of Port Renfrew. Many old growth Western Red Cedar trees are there, noticeable by their distinctive branching castellated tops, silvery grey against the dark greens. The area includes the ‘Castle Grove’, one of the most significant stands of unprotected monumental Cedars in B.C, the largest being the ‘Castle Giant’, which is over 64’ in circumference.
Born in England, I am a settler here in Canada, but the term settler and settled have many definitions. The unlimited resource extraction of Vancouver Island’s remaining forests by industry is a colonial settler practice: unsustainable, ignoring the realities of climate change and the limits of the natural world. An unsettled practice. On the other hand, a sense of calm and quiet can explain what it is to be settled, still, planted like a tree.
Hand-carved from salvaged Western Yew, a wood long known for its strength, the representation of an ancient cedar is contained within this chair. It invites you to sit, to be still, to become settled, to be in the present moment and place. The sitter is hopefully reminded of incredible and precious forests that need to be valued and protected.’

Materials: Salvaged Red Alder and Western Yew, finished with Polymerized Tung Oil.