Celtic Cross, 2002 – Present
North Seattle, USA
Artist’s Assistants: S. Gielewski and Cesar Llano
About the work
This permanent piece of public art was designed and created by Dr. Lycia Trouton and was foundry cast for the St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church at a Seattle location. Celtic knotwork is the formation of complete loops with no visible beginning nor end. This traditional design decorates the base of this cross as a singular thread to represent the Celts’ belief of the continuous interconnectedness of all things. The symbolism on the face of the cross is connected to, and in honour of, St. Dunstan after whom the church was named. Pictured here on the cross is a dove ascending and the holy ghost rising. While the three panels can be analyzed to reveal a metaphoric representation of Saint Dunstan who himself was a scribe, an illustrator and a blacksmith. This cross was recently stripped and refinished with a bright patina. It was originally created using a highly prized lost wax bronze pour.
Samara: Scattering of the Seeds, 2001 – Present
Maple Valley Library, Washington, USA
Artist’s Assistant: Cesar Llano, Canada-Ecuador
About the work
These Bronze Samara, located in Maple Valley, WA, became an award winning, competitive public art project (from a 1% for Art, Public Buildings fund) with Seattle Arts Commission. A samara is a fruit, but to the untrained eye it appears to be a seedpod. Often used for amusement in ‘helicopter’ games by children in the Fall, these fruits are winged in their shape and spin like propellers when floating through the air. Due to their ergonomics, they are able to sail a far distance from their parent tree and thus have an aptitude for greater germination and survival. These specific samara were produced in Trouton’s studio and at a local, Seattle, Foundry. Originally the design was for the seeds to be “scattered” in and around the trees and ferns directly about the Maple Valley building.” The samara were enhanced, through the delicate and time-consuming process of “lost wax chasing,” with selected quotes from literature to engage viewers in contemplation as they pass.
These sculptures were created with the support of Seattle Public Libraries and assisted by The Seattle Arts Commission.
The lovely bronzed winged seeds that remain today in the Maple Valley Library, carry these two quotes: “Libraries are the carriers of civilization,” by Barbara Tuchman and “Reading is the basic tool in the living a good life,” by Joseph Addison.
Waters of Life, 1999
Waterworks Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland
About the work
The Waterworks is located in a politically sensitive area of Northern Ireland, which witnessed terrible sectarian violence throughout the fraught period of ‘the troubles.’ This work, ‘Waters of Life,’ was created as a project of hope-building. The location of the stairway, between two reservoirs that used to provide water for Belfast, is symbolic as a bridge or a ‘stairway’ to peace. Horizontal zig-zags were cut into the grassy slopes of either side of the embankment to represent the universal and healing power of water. The stairwell was painted with blue and green words as a reference to the calming messages in water and were specifically taken from mythological places of paradise such as the Kingdom of Shambhala, The Heavens, Elysium, Eden, Shangri-La, Utopia, Nirvana, Hesperides, Valhalla and Lemuria.
This Public Art was part of the Horsehead International Sculpture Exhibition with British Columbia Arts Council funding.
The Dragon’s Tail, 1997
Exhibitions: TimeFrames, Albright College, PA, USA
About the work
Created with a story to tell of the changes brought to the land, in PA, by a newly constructed freeway and adjacent sound barrier wall. The “tail” symbolizes the change/chaos of a dragon’s energy as is symbolic in Oriental lore… traveling down the slope and acting as a continuation and yet, diversion, of the original concrete sound barrier. The juxtaposition of the hard concrete sound barrier against this earthwork creation and the ‘soft’ earthwork sculpture, call to mind our own strength and mortality. This sculpture was in place for two years, during which time it gradually disintegrated back into the earth. Made ‘by hand’ by what some have called an early form of post-millennium ‘craftivism’. This land art piece was constructed by making walls which were formed from a slurry of earth, then compressed in ‘formwork’ (which was then removed). This project encompassed several hundred hours of human labour of moving tons of earth and reforming it.
Thanks to over 100 juvenile offenders, community members and students who helped to create this work.
Mount Pleasant Community Fence Project with grunt gallery, 1992 (co-concept)
Project carried out by Pat Beaton, Haruko Okano, Merle Addison and Charmian Bullen
East Vancouver, Canada
About the work
This ‘early’ public art project was conceived by Lycia Trouton and Pat Beaton. Since the early 90’s, this project was considered ‘a landmark’ in public art by the City of Vancouver. Beaton and Trouton, obtained a ‘ready-or-not’ intergenerational community grant to start the project which then took off with Vancouver’s well-known, avant-garde, alternative space, ‘grunt gallery’ management (with Director: Glenn Alteen) and other, multi-lingual artists; the project reached out to intercultural resident citizens of East Vancouver and created community and visibility for the Community Gardens. Each picket fence post was carved by a member of the East Vancouver community—This project, and public art in general, is not meant to foster gentrification or cosmetic solutions. It endeavors instead to encourage people to question and focus on the issues underlying the shifts in urban planning as well as connection, community and our sense of ‘home.’