Balance, 2009 Cast Iron and Bronze, Peter von Tiesenhausen

This sculpture embodies the hope for a thriving ecosphere in Balance. The human figure was cast in solid iron from a chainsaw carving in the trunk of an eighty foot tree. The tree element, from the tip of a second similarly sized tree, was charred before being cast directly in bronze.

When exposed to great heat, pinecones open up. In nature this ensures that pine trees reseed themselves after fire, a natural occurrence in the life cycle of forests. Though both trees died as a result of a mountain-pine-beetle infestation, the opened cones signal renewal and hope.

Events like the fall of our forests to the mountain pine beetle have precipitated greater awareness of our position as part of a single, dynamic, global organism. von Tiesenhausen's tree, reconstituted here with a human form as its trunk, acknowledges how entwined we are. It reflects a prevailing shift in consciousness towards a more symbiotic relationship.

Balance was commissioned by Two Rivers Gallery with the support of the Arts Partners in Creative Development program and with the assistance of the City of Prince George.

Two Rivers Gallery selected Peter von Tiesenhausen for this project for a number of reasons. He is an accomplished artist with an international reputation for exciting work. He has a high profile in our community having delivered three extraordinarily popular talks as well as a major exhibition. He lives in the North, and has particular knowledge of issues facing northern communities. His work is compelling and relevant to central BC.

Balance began with the production of a human form, hewn from wood at the artist's studio. This form is a recurring motif in von Tiesenhausen's work and has a history in Prince George that reaches back to 2005. That year Two Rivers Gallery produced an exhibition of von Tiesenhausen's work called Requiem, which addressed issues around the mountain pine beetle infestation in Central BC.

Requiem took place at a time when people were first starting to come to terms with this loss: emotionally, aesthetically and financially. While it provided a forum for reflection and mourning, the installation conveyed a sense of hope. Situating the pine beetle infestation in the context of global warming the repeated motif of a stylized human figure appeared prominently in the exhibition, etched onto wood panels, and was intended to urge visitors to action, suggesting that collectively, even small changes to the way we live can make a big impact on the environment.

Balance, 2009 Cast Iron and Bronze, Peter von Tiesenhausen

The wooden human form was used in a sand casting process to produce a solid iron version. The mold was destroyed during removal to reveal the figure contained within after it has cooled. The artist finished this section on site. The choice of iron, is significant. It ties the human form to the earth from which the material came and evokes connections to our life's blood not only conceptually, but also, as the figure starts to turn red from rust, aesthetically too.

The second component of the sculpture was cast directly from a charred pine tree in a process identical to the lost wax method of casting. This component was completed at Joe Fafard's foundry (Julienne Atelier) in Pense, Saskatchewan. Though the artist has used this process before, the scale of this casting using an actual tree is ambitious. After he encapsulated the tree with a mold, the artist vapourized it with molten bronze to create a metal replica. He extracted the object after it cooled, culled the channels through which the bronze was poured and finished the casting on site. Both components were be assembled in Prince George in early June.

The burned tree form also stems from the earlier Requiem project. There were roughly 300 drawings of pine trees made with tree ash, in the exhibition, images of trees and of fire, both on scorched plywood, as well as an actual burned pine tree, which was installed above the portal from one gallery to the next. Burned as it was, its pine cones had opened up and throughout the exhibition pinetree seeds would waft to the ground. Collectively, the exhibition's imagery amplified the significance of the charred tree as a symbol of renewal. Pertinent to the idea of regeneration (it is only through fire that pine cones open and release their seeds) the seeds that would fall from the tree were seen not only as a sign of hope for the future, but also as a kind of blessing. As with Requiem, the needles of the tree in Balance will have burned away, but its pine cones will have opened.

The assembled sculpture weighs roughly 7000 pounds and requires a seven foot deep concrete foundation.

This project is highly pertinent to this community and has its genesis in one of Two Rivers Gallery's most moving and popular exhibitions in its thirty-six year history. Ultimately, this sculpture is designed to inspire our faith in nature while urging that we assume responsibility for our lives and for our environment. The health of our environment is rooted within ourselves and the communities in which we live; hope lies in us and in the determination we have to make a difference. Bringing together the human and tree forms, draws an important link between nature, human beings and our communities. It speaks to the metaphorical planting of the seeds of hope, responsibility and action. Our futures rest in the balance.