Art as Habitat: Landscape Design

When you have a lot of ideas you give them to those that will listen and believe in them too. Terra Designs a landscape design company allowed me to influence. One topic that I am passionate about is the concept of building, making art and creating spaces that also regenerate or restore the environment that its in. Imagine art that was made to create habitat for the wildlife that already live there. So the art itself is made to interacting with and give presence to nature. This is the concept that helped inspire a landscaping design of a new condo. That's the other thing about ideas , they can actually happen in very paradoxical situations. 

MOVE THIS HOUSE  - Division St and 38th Portland OregonThe Visual Narrative
By Chelsea Peil

An Invitation for Reunion
The Division Project is about inviting nature back into our human culture. The human built environment has created a division between human spaces and non-human space. We recognized “nature” in our built environment in bees, birds and spiders so highlighting their presence in ours is one story of these art elements. Opening the human form, culture and history to create spaces as an invitation of natural non-human habitat back in what we created is another. These works also highlight creatures that may not be publically valued or recognize because they think of them in their habitat or maybe that they are in theirs, but it’s about life sharing space with life, without division.

Each artistic piece tells a story of the humanity’s relationship with nature as it strives to change itself to reconnect to nature’s ways by creating space for her to embody our creations.

Shadow Cast Signage: Plasma cut figures cut in metal and positioned for the sun to shine through and cast their shadow across the adjacent wall is a subtle reminder of the aliveness the sun gives all living things and the fleeting, moving, ungraspable beauty of water and these creatures we are aspiring to live with.  Signage without our words but with their image in intentional placement to illuminate them again against the backdrop of our built environment relates to the experiences we wish to create rather than our knowledge explicitly described.  

Rainwater on Stone: 

As water flows on stone we are reminded of the nature’s persistence and presence over our concrete attempts at iconic stability found in our built environment. On roofs and on top of boulders are places left for birds to bathe and bugs to water. 

Hummingbird: 

Human culture in our hummingbird sculpture, with glass elements a reflection of human industriousness and culture inviting hummingbirds water and perhaps food.  
This sculpture materials chosen wood, glass to connect the culture of our views through windows and the positions of them that effects what we see, what we are paying attention to and what awareness we feed or drink from.  Also this feature is about remaking what we waste in a humble offering and respect for all the energy that went into that item that was taken or can be revived and offered to other living creatures.

Stacked Invertebrate Habitat: 

In our invertebrate sculpture the human form is opening space within it for a habitat of spiders and other invertebrates. 
Stacked hollowed wood sections (like a snow man) or curved snaking metal to create hollow space for soil, wood bits, and stones for invertebrate habitat found within the sculptural form. Striking a balance between human made art and the natural forms of home for spiders and other invertebrates. As we create space to invite them to make homes with us is an offering. 

The Hanging Tree: Mason Bee Home

The hanging tree is about recognizing our pathway that divided us with nature. The image of hanging resource or product in an act of dominance, power and control, ultimately reflexive to show that what we do to ourselves we do to nature and what we do to nature we do to ourselves. Moreover, it’s transformation to offer mason bee shelter speaks to the possibilities and uses of power for collective survival, as is the case of bees themselves.

 We need to look at the level of thinking that has got us into our relationship with nature in the first place.  Then, we can offer this space to be revitalized with life in the form of bees, pollinators that assist to bear new fruits, pollinate new ideas of how systems of control and power can be used to work with nature in our systems.