Ernie [nurse log]

Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Date: 2021
Media: Burlap, twine, soil, zip ties, rope, grass seed, wildflower mix
Dimensions: 3’ length, 1’5” width

Nurse logs are fallen trees that over time, as they deteriorate, come to serve as habitat for animals, insects, and even the growth of new plants, whether of the same species or others that the putrefying mass of the log now has come to “nurse.” In this work the “logs” are constructed. Using sheets of loose-weave burlap I created loose cylinders filled with soil, fertilizer, and seeds. These are bound together with twine and rope to create a log like form. In its initial form, the straight lines of the nurse logs are used to play against the irregular distribution of the tree trunks, their horizontals playing against their verticals.

For further description of this series, see: Aino [nurse log]. The nurse log series is in a very early exploration stage.