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During the first week of my residency at IU when I wasn’t exploring the city, University, art, museums, ecology, architecture, and landscapes I was experimenting with labyrinth designs.
Some sketches of three different types of kabyrintgs.
This design starts with a simple cross. I need to keep this simple.
Turning the cross/square labyrinth upside down I decided to attempted a seed labyrinth. I think a design less feminine will be better.
I have read that a few migratory monarchs spend the winter in the Houston area and join a small resident population of monarchs. I have also read that it is essential to choose native milkweed as opposed to tropical. Tropical milkweed—doesn’t die back in the winter as native milkweed does. When a place to lay their eggs year-round is available, many monarchs don’t bother making the trip to Mexico.. I saw this caterpillar on my morning walk. It was seriously munching on the milkweed. Milkweed is the only plant that provides the nourishment that will transform the caterpillar into a monarch butterfly. It is important to plant only none-hybrid native milkweed. Texas milkweed will be included in my 2021 Lawndale Art Center Sculpture garden piece Symbiosis. In Symbiosis, I am stretching my practice and creating a living piece of site-specific art activism that will reimagine a 53.5’ X 48’ traditional urban landscape/sculpture garden and answer the question: how do we holistically restore an ecological balance in Houston? Symbols is a collaboration with Lawndale Art Center’s community, neighbors, urban wildlife, and the coastal prairies' carbon cycle. For more details see this link.
#carboncycle #cindeeklementart #texasart #houstonart #contemporaryart #modernart #caterpillar #monarch #milkweed #nativeplants #migration #energy #movement
#lawndaleartcenter #symbiosis #artactivism
The day after the caterpillar sighting.
When it comes to the environment in the 21st century grasslands beat trees when it comes to carbon sequestration. Our planet is a living breathing organism, impacted by our actions, always changing. I believe It is important that we constantly observe and evaluate how it changes as humans developed and expand across it.
Trees are a thing of beauty but they store carbon above ground in their trunks and limbs.when they catch on fire the trunks and limbs release their carbon into the atmosphere. Grasslands storing carbon underground release little carbon when they catch on fire. In addition the grasslands are a giant sponge soaking up water that prevents dryness and fires.
With the forest fires we have suffered world wide it is time to plant more grasslands and turn these areas suffer ending from droughts into giant sponges for soaking up water and carbon. When the ground is moist then we can can start adding back trees.
Drying coastal prairie native grass in my studio.
Bombus Morrisoni II
Bombus Morrisoni II Ghost
I was not happy with the first Bombus Morrisoni so I made more. The first is swimming in violet blooms
Bombus Morrisoni III
Bombus Morrisoni III ghost
Here is a collection of my reference material.
Bison grab a tuft of grass with their tongue, then they pinch it off by pressing it between their tongue and their front lower teeth. They do not have top front teeth. They then swallow it whole. That is the beginning of a 24-hour digestive process.
I love this image, I took it last January at Roam Ranch right before the roundup. I think this is the one they call Poppy. Poppy is very curious and friendly. She is checking me out as she catches rain drops on her tongue.
You can see the lower jaw through the upper jaw here. It is slightly off to the right of the bison. I want him chewing away and want to exaggerate the movement. I will probably bend it a little more askew this weekend.
Here the chewing lower jaw is more obvious.
View from the rear or top down.
Friday, I am committing to writing the Lawndale proposal- rewriting and rewriting and rewriting.
One of the most critical problems to solve is the placement of the hooves. They will be welded to Steel plates that act as the base. The base serves several purposes; it will make it easier to transport the piece without damaging it, it will make working on a large piece safer and less likely to fall on me. I am going to use 4 - 14” X 14” 1/4” steele plates. One for each hoove. This will give me the flexibility to adjust the placement of the hooves as the piece develops.
I am sending the hooves to Blumenthal metal and having them weld the hooves to the plates. It is tricky welding to a thin plate and not warping the plate.
Why is this important to me? Please see Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus
I have shared ideas regarding environmental land art concepts with Stephanie over the past few years, and this spring Lawndale Art Center decided to allow me to see what I can do. After some time thinking about what the work should be, I verbally made a proposal recapped in the letter below. I am pumped about his opportunity, the Lawndale sculpture garden feels like a traditional front yard in anywhere USA. The sculpture garden is lovely, but this is the Coastal Prairie, and Coastal Prairie landscapes offer many environmental benefits. I am addressing many of them in Endangered Knowledge: The Soul of Humus. This Lawndale piece will provide an example of a native plant landscaped area of the same scale as their yard. People need a project they can mimic. They can see native landscaping at the Arboretum, Katy Prairie Conservancy, and Buffalo Bayou. Those sites are enormous tracts of land, and most people can not visualize those landscapes in front of their homes. The Lawndale Sculpture Garden will be instrumental in communicating what a reimagined urban native landscape can be. It will inspire change.
Emily, Stephanie, and Will,
First, I want to introduce you to Will Isbell and thank you for meeting with me regarding the Lawndale Sculpture Garden, again. Now that I have had time to think about the space in the greater picture, I am proposing that Will Isbell, work with me to create a plan that will reimagine the Lawndale Sculpture garden as a work of living land art. Will is an artist, past President of the Harris County Master Gardeners Association, oversees the Family Garden at McGovern Centennial Gardens and makes educational videos for Herman park and works at Sicardi Gallery. I have pasted for your enjoyment a link to an Educational video Cooking From Your Garden that Will created a few weeks ago. Will's knowledge, credentials, and experience as a sculptor and gallerist at Sicardi Gallery will be extremely valuable to the project from conception to funding.
Will and I had initial discussions regarding the space last Friday evening, and we are like-minded regarding our landscape philosophies and vision for Lawndale's Sculpture Garden. As artists, we see our involvement as sculptors of a living piece of land art and environmental art activist. The long-term goal of our land art will be to take the garden from it's beautiful traditional landscaped state to a holistic living sculpture garden that works with the Coastal Prairie native landscape and, at the same time, showcases Lawndales sculpture exhibits. The living land art will be educational, functional as an exhibition space, and an environmentally healthy ecosystem/habitat. It will be groundbreaking in the art community to have a sculpture garden that showcases work in an ecologically conscious native landscape and will save Lawndale future dollars.
The first step is to get Will and I the landscape and irrigation plans and a key to the outdoor garden closet. Will and I will then do the research to reimagine the space and give you a conceptual proposal. If you are on board with our vision, we can then work with you on creating a site plan, securing funding, installation/timing plan, and estimate the volunteers needed. We are aware that this may be a long term staged project but are hopeful that it can be realized in the short term.
I am also looking forward to creating a piece that addresses the connection between humans, the natural world, and landscapes. Emily and I discussed that we should discuss the details of this future piece after my Sculpture Month Houston opening on October 10th. I would like to add the growth I realize as an artist from my experience creating the sculpture Month piece to my future Lawndale installation.
I am grateful for the opportunity to work with all of you and know this is going to be an amazing experience.
This is Will’s cooking from the garden video
Best,
Cindee
It will be groundbreaking to look at sculpture in a landscape unique to Houston Texas. .
