Client: Private Collector
Location: Pugwash, NS, Canada
Completion date: 2015
Project Team
Artist
Tim Forbes
ForbesDG
Client
Private Collector
Overview
Having sculpted the original clay maquette during a stay at the client’s residence, A Complexity of Crows became an observation of the important relationship the Maritime Crows have to the surrounding forest, shore and people who share their land. With an affinity to both the crows and the ocean, the client requested that a large sculpture be created to look out over the Northumberland Strait.
Goals
Sourced for its characteristic colour and tradition, old growth Western red cedar was harvested at a sawmill in the interior of British Columbia, kilned and laminated into a 500-pound four-foot cube, then trucked across the Rocky Mountains to the Calgary workshop for carving. Respect for nature, ocean and local history were important considerations of the final work.
Process
The sculpture was then shipped across Canada to Nova Scotia for installation - the end of a 5000-mile 9-month journey. As an personal invitation to engage with the work, an artist-designed sandstone bench was quarried from the historic Wallace Quarry 3 miles from the site – after which a landscape crew fittingly muscled the massive work into place during a warm summer rain.
Additional Information
Material reference was reflective of stone and wood used in the client's newly built summer residence. Given the vast vista overlooking the Northumberland Strait of Nova Scotia, respect for nature, ocean, legend and local history were important considerations for the commission.