In The Grove

In The Grove, Morrill Meadows Park, Kent, WA, Commissioned by the City of Kent, WA. 2000.
An environmental installation utilizing an existing grove of hazelnut trees. Granite, hazelnut trees, crushed rock path.

This installation was created utilizing 16 existing hazelnut trees on the site of a former family fruit farm which became a city park. The artist attempted to create a fantasy landscape that would surprise, delight and engage the observer and create a peaceful place of repose. The artwork plays off the alchemical associations with hazelnut trees. These were the first branches used as divining rods and they have other magical associations.

The artist preserved and pruned the trees to emphasize a natural arch. A series of granite spheres ranging in size from 12” to 36” were placed to form a serpentine line along a 110’ crushed granite pathway. The grove is buffered from the rest of the park on one side by a border of wildflowers and a meadow and by forest on the other. In the Grove is a permanent installation in Morrill Meadows Park in Kent, Washington.