Interstices, 2020
Permanent Outdoor Public Art Commission
Corten Steel, Moss
Dimensions variable: approximately 16′ x 40′
Bower Sculpture Park
Shermans Dale, PA

The Bower is a developing 36-acre sculpture park and native landscape of meadows and woodland trails along the northern slope of the Appalachian Mountains in Central Pennsylvania. Interstices was installed in September 2020.

Sited on the slope of a pioneer forest on the edge of the grounds, Interstices was created using the 1 3/8 inch thick cut-out forms from the plasma-cut corten steel sculpture, Ridge & Valley, also located at the Bower Sculpture Park. All 208 linear and curving cut-out shapes were carefully assembled together to create a winding pathway connecting the rain garden pools below to a newly cleared trail in the woods. Working with the once negative spaces as positive forms was an organic process, in contrast to the more rigid design and implementation of the larger sculpture. Interstices draws the eye with its presence but also intentionally blends into the landscape, the curving forms reminiscent of tree roots and the leaning trunks of young Sweet Birches that frame the view looking up the slope. With time, it will continue to shift and integrate into the environment. Native Pin cushion moss has been planted in the intervening spaces to create a textural and colorful contrast to the aging steel. By its nature, the sustainable aspect of Interstices, in giving new life to scraps of fabrication too often discarded, was an important consideration for the artist. The Bower opens to the public in Spring 2021.