Sycamore Haven

Permanent Site-Specific Installation River crossing on Elm Lick Trail
Bernheim Research Forest
Clermont, KY

American Sycamore Tree, Copper leaf, Rabbit Skin Glue
14 feet x 40 inches

2020

The American Sycamore is a Plane Tree with a spreading canopy, native to the Eastern and Central United States. This tree commonly grows to a height of 100 feet, frequently along waterways. The trunks of large trees are often hollow. In the U.S. the Sycamore is seen as a symbol of protection and hope

Inside each sycamore seed is a delicate, lacy pattern. This is the network I hand drew in rabbit skin glue and copper leaf inside a smooth area of the sycamore trunk. Many of the creeks in the area have copper in the natural mineral content of the water, and it felt appropriate to use this metal to illuminate a pathway inside this tree, between the water and the sky.