Client: Private Collector

Location: Pugwash, NS, Canada

Completion date: 2015

Project Team

Artist

Tim Forbes

ForbesDG

Client

Private Collector

Overview

Having sculpted the original clay maquette during a stay at the client’s residence, A Complexity of Crows became an observation of the important relationship the Maritime Crows have to the surrounding forest, shore and people who share their land. With an affinity to both the crows and the ocean, the client requested that a large sculpture be created to look out over the Northumberland Strait.

Goals

Sourced for its characteristic colour and tradition, old growth Western red cedar was harvested at a sawmill in the interior of British Columbia, kilned and laminated into a 500-pound four-foot cube, then trucked across the Rocky Mountains to the Calgary workshop for carving. Respect for nature, ocean and local history were important considerations of the final work.

Process

The sculpture was then shipped across Canada to Nova Scotia for installation - the end of a 5000-mile 9-month journey. As an personal invitation to engage with the work, an artist-designed sandstone bench was quarried from the historic Wallace Quarry 3 miles from the site – after which a landscape crew fittingly muscled the massive work into place during a warm summer rain.

Additional Information

Material reference was reflective of stone and wood used in the client's newly built summer residence. Given the vast vista overlooking the Northumberland Strait of Nova Scotia, respect for nature, ocean, legend and local history were important considerations for the commission.