Earth Creature

  • Click on image to enlarge

    Photo: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio
  • Click on image to enlarge

    Photo: Stephen Pitkin/Pitkin Studio
1976
Found wood, glass marble, brass, sawdust and glue base
23.5 x 29 x 6 inches
Collection of
Souls Grown Deep Foundation
Description

In 1975, while working as a nighttime security guard on a construction site, Byron found an uprooted piece of wood that reminded him of a gun. He took it home and hung it on the wall. Byron quickly became enraptured with roots, scouring riverbanks, lake shores, and the woods near his home for interesting wood formations. He would then varnish them, christening them with names that usually emphasized their nonhuman qualities, as if they were not part of contemporary human concerns. He gradually came to incorporate roots into his home, making them into tables or stands for potted plants.