About the Artist, Meg Webster

Meg Webster is an American artist who works primarily in sculpture and installation art. She is most well known for her pieces of art that use natural elements. Webster is closely affiliated with Post-Minimalism and the Land Art Movement; the Land Art Movement being largely an “American movement that uses the natural landscape to create site-specific structures, art forms, and sculptures” (Earth Art Movements and Artists). She has spent her career communicating her passion for the environment and the planet by creating simple pieces. The plant life she uses in her works are never full grown, adult plants. For her, change “is part of the nature of the work” (Webster). She uses the Post-Modernist idea of creating a conversation about the environment and the idea that we need to protect it, preserve it, and care for it. (Written by Shea Dieter)

1990

This piece was created for Western Washington University in 1990. Just before, in 1989, Ronald Reagan was president. Although he might have been well known and great in the way of political problem solving, environmental activists and people who wanted to keep living a healthy life, were nervous when he came to power. He did not necessarily care about nature and resources around him. Ronald Reagan “once said trees cause pollution” more than automobiles according to The New York Times article written by Philip Shabecoff back in January of 1989 (Shabecoff). Clearly a reason to be nervous about the future of the environment. Under Reagan’s power, the environment was not necessarily improving nor deteriorating, but rather keeping it at a constant.                                                                                                    (Written by Denver Rogers)

The Environment

Meg Webster, as explained previously, was very concerned with the wellbeing of the environment and different elements in nature as well as “organic beauty” (Sisson). One of her more recent pieces from 2016 in Socrates Sculpture Park in New York titled Concave Room for Bees shows exactly her motive behind creating the sculpture. Based on the name, the viewers understand that her goal is to create a place for bees to pollinate that is also beautiful to humans (Sisson). Although Concave Room for Bees was created 26 years after Lifted Conical Depression, the idea and reason for the medium still is translated. Lifted Conical Depression is planted, currently, with strawberries. What suggests that the goals of these two pieces is similar, despite being two and a half decades apart, is the fact that strawberries are a dioecious plant meaning they have specific male and female organisms. This means that they need assistance in reproducing. That’s where bees come in. This helps reveal the reasoning for choosing the plant Webster did for Lifted Conical Depression. Just like Curved Room for Bees, this piece on Western Washington University’s campus promotes and assists pollination of bees. Meg Webster’s concern for preserving the environments resources as well as its beauty is very evident in Lifted Conical Depression.                                                                                                                                                                  (Written by Denver Rogers)

Artist’s Statement

With this short illustration/animation I was interested in exploring the life cycle of Webster’s living earthwork. As someone who has worked in both landscaping and sculpture maintenance, I could tell there was a process and reached out to WWU facilities. I was put in touch with Hafthor Yngvason, the manager of sculpture maintenance, and Heidi Zeretzke, the lead gardener. They explained that while the piece was originally planted with cloudberries, it now is full of strawberries. The piece has been moved at least twice as well, once from New York, and then once more during construction. I wanted to play with the idea of a living work that occasionally rests out of sight, as well as explore the idea that most students never see this work flower or fruit.                                                                                                        (Written by Benjamin Schieber)

By Denver Rogers, Shea Dieter, and Benjamin Schieber