Floating Leaf | 2014 | 12x36x12 | Holly A. Senn

Backstory on “Floating Leaf” sculpture

Tacoma’s 22nd Maritime Festival received funding from the Tacoma Arts Commission for an exhibit of artist-made boats, using recycled materials, to be displayed at the Foss Waterway Seaport. The exhibit is curated by artist Lynn Di Nino.

Q. What happens when you’re asked to make a boat — and you don’t make boats — out of recycled materials for an exhibit celebrating Tacoma’s Maritime Fest?

A. You pick up the challenge and decide how you’re going to integrate the theme with the type of work you already do.

Inspiration

I make sculptures out of paper, specifically paper from discarded library books. Considering my materials, the first image I thought of when presented with the boat theme was a boat made out of folded newspaper. But that image wasn’t consistent with what I explore in my art. Because I look at gain and loss, remembrance and lapses, permanence and impermanence, images of trees, plants and other organisms that have visible regeneration cycles, inspire me.

I began to think about how and when a boat naturally occurs in nature. On a visit to the Rutherford Conservatory at the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden in Federal Way, Washington, I observed a leaf floating in the water of the conservatory’s splashing stream. That’s when I decided to make a floating leaf.

Artist Statement for Floating Leaf

Leaves floating in streams are tiny beautiful boats. For centuries boats have enabled people throughout the world to exchange ideas and goods. To make visible this global exchange, Floating Leaf was created from discarded books that were written in different languages. I use discarded library books in my sculptures to explore the lifecycle of ideas–how they are created, shared, and whether they are remembered or forgotten.

 Where can I see Floating Leaf?

At the “Boat” exhibit at the  Foss Waterway Seaport, 705 Dock Street, in Tacoma

Reception: Thursday, Sept 18th 2014 from 5-8pm

Open: During the Tacoma Maritime Fest, Saturday Sept 20 from 10a-6p and Sunday Sept 21 from 10a-5p