The studio has been filling up with rocky toppers this winter. The half-products are elements in a sculpture to be installed as part of a new outdoor exhibition at Shelburne Museum. The uniquely shaped objects will be arranged atop berms of loose stone. The completed piece will sprawl across the floor of a pine forest, flowing between and around the tree trunks.

Fantasy Topography is a temporary environmental art piece that joins the works of two other artists for a six-month outdoor exhibit. In addition to Fantasy Topography, the show, titled In Their Element, features sculptures by Jonathan Ebinger and Rodrigo Nava.

The semi-products are fabricated by making a negative imprint in sand and pressing in small stones. A fiber-reinforced mortar is troweled between and over the stones. After curing for three days, the shells are flipped over, exposing the finished reliefs.

In April the shells will be packed in wood chips and trucked to Shelburne, Vermont. Twenty tons of slate tailings from a Dummerston gravel pit will also head north. After creating Stone Clouds for the museum three years ago, it’s exciting to be going back for a second work. Thanks to all the skilled staff at Shelburne Museum for making my involvement there possible and especially to Carolyn Bauer, assistant curator, for organizing the show.

Exhibition: In Their Element: Jonathan Ebinger, Rodrigo Nava, Dan Snow.
May 1, 2019 to October 31, 2019, Shelburne Museum, Shelburne VT.
Click through to the Shelburne Museum webpage for more info.