A pair of Argenta sculptors won the People's Choice Award at Castlegar's 2015 Sculpturewalk Gala.
Regeneration, by Christopher Petersen and Spring Shine, is made from 1,300 feet of logging cable sculpted into a hollow stump with a bench inside. It weighs around 1,300 lbs.
“We called it Regeneration because we put a small cedar tree growing out of it and we wanted to kind of celebrate the way that the forest has supported our communities,” explained Shine.“Our cities, our communities have grown from the wood that we’ve harvested, and yet this new life is growing out of it.”
“And the materials that we used are literally used to harvest logs,” added Petersen.
This is Petersen’s third year participating in Sculpturewalk and Shine’s fourth year. They were both humbled and grateful to win this year’s People’s Choice.
“It’s a pat on the back, and in the case of Sculpturewalk and people like Spring and I who … because of our personalities, we don’t really need inspiration so much for doing things, but certainly having apiece win is a great inspiration, a pat on the back, and a stepping stone for what might happen,” said Petersen.
He and Shine also won second place in the Artistic Merit category.
First place in Artistic Merit went to Nathan Smith from Nelson for V Formation, which also took second place in the People’s Choice Award category.
Smith’s sculpture was inspired by kinetic sculpture artist Bob Potts and was made using recycled bicycle parts.
He says that being part of Sculpturewalk has encouraged him to push himself as an artist.
“It’s so good to have a place, a platform to actually show your art. I’ve been in it for three years now and it’s really encouraged me as an artist to explore the medium and push the boundaries,where without this opportunity, I know I wouldn’t have been able to do that,” said Smith.
Read more about the gala and see more photos in the Castlegar News.