janetlofquist

 

1999; Valley: stainless steel, cast bronze, wood; 8’H x 18’W x 18’D; Preserved: hand blown glass, bronze, dried cherries; 30’H x 24’W x 15”D; Food Innovation Center, Portland, Oregon.  Commissioned by the Oregon Percent for Art Commission.

The commissioned work includes an installation for the lobby wall and an outdoor piece for the building’s plaza. Both pieces contain sculptural elements that not only refer to the context of the facility, food research and marketing, but also reflect the Oregon landscape and its rich agricultural heritage.  Surrounded by landscape plantings, a large vessel/funnel form occupies the plaza area.  Elevated by basalt boulders the sculptural forms allude to the topography of the region, suggesting valley and mountain, orchards and forest.  The interior piece consists of large glass amphorae filled with dried Oregon cherries interspersed with cast bronze filbert tree saplings, both of which suggest Oregon’s food crops.

© Janet Lofquist