Katie Hudnall, Container for a Lost Year (RECYCLED & RESCUED 2024)

Photos:

Jim Escalante

Country:

USA

This is a small cabinet containing a storm-downed twig from a sycamore tree found in winter of 2020. The twig is one year’s growth, and felt like a metaphor for the loss of time, connections and closeness to family and friends during the pandemic. The base is made from various reclaimed woods, the trunk is redwood siding cut and shipped to the Midwest from California in the 1940s, from 300 year old trees that started growing in the 1600s, and chucked in a spring of 2021. Juxtaposing the twig with the redwood boards was a way for me to talk about how we value life and time. This piece was built using a variety of woodworking techniques. I used traditional woodworking joinery for the box, and neck. The base was stack laminated – many pieces glued up to achieve a desired thickness, and then hand carved to create the three legged shape. Brass hardware was machined to allow it to follow the contours of the piece. The top and box were dyed, lacquered and waxed. I used a liming technique on the base that darkens the wood and pulls out the contrast between early and late growth, accentuating the annual rings, and then applied oil and wax.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.