Artist Statement

Throughout antiquity, humans have erected stone arrangements to create sacred space, often as places for ritual. My environmental sculptures are ritualistic symbols of nature. They echo from ancient traditions and focus on the importance of our human relationship to Earth. By pairing large, vertical standing stones, their bases sunken and stabilized deep within soil, the opening between them signifies a space where energies of Earth and heavens mingle. Circles of lichen covered stones around central stones symbolize cycles of time. In other large, mounded sculptures, pathways lead inward to a center stone set on a stone pedestal, evoking a sense of sacredness. Walkways leading into the center are made from cobbles of fine siltstone, each sedimentary face etched with various patterns from water movement when this region, many millions of years ago, was an inland sea. The massive, micaceous quartz boulders in the sculptures are enhanced by colonies of lichen, reflecting the Earth covered with ecosystems and colonies of life.

The largest environmental landscape sculpture is a 130’ long stone serpent made of 40 tons of broken granite set by hand that winds along sharp meanders in the Rio Pueblo, a small river which flows through Riverbend Sculpture Gardens. While the sculpture, The Serpent, serves as flood and erosion control, it also celebrates the mythical serpent that enticed Eve to eat the apple and thereby gain knowledge of good and evil, an event in the familiar biblical story that takes place in the imaginary Garden of Eden. At Riverbend Sculpture Gardens, many gardens adorn woodlands, lawns, and along the edge of a large meadow. Stone terraces and landings have benches to sit upon that overlook pools in the small river, which swells to a torrent in spring when snow melts on the mountains. Two spillways of basalt and granite boulders cross the river creating cascades so the sound of water echoes through woodlands and into open meadows. Almost all the stonework and installations have been done by hand, except for some exceptionally large stones that were set using a small loader with forks and wide canvas straps.

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Riverbend Sculpture Gardens is a place of serene, natural beauty. Ornamental and woodland gardens contain stone arrangements and environmental landscape sculptures that evoke a contemplative atmosphere when walking within them. Many of the woodland gardens and stone settings are influenced by my study of Japanese art and aesthetics. While my original work in environmental landscape sculpture began as an independent vision, I have since visited and studied neolithic ceremonial sites, including painted caves and stone constructions in Europe and South Pacific Islands. As I became aware of other sculptors in similar genres, such as Andy Goldsworthy, I have been inspired by my academic studies of environmental sculptors and their work. While I am almost entirely self-taught, I have researched and viewed a vast amount of art in various fields of expression in the United States, Canada, South and Central America, Europe, Africa, Japan, China, and the South Pacific.

I believe that we need to revisualize our human relationship to our home, the planet Earth. Culturally, socially, and ethically, we must develop creative and innovative ways of thinking about and understanding our place in the natural world. Our human activity needs to embody an understanding and respect for nature, the living biosphere that sustains us and all life's diversity. New perspectives are emerging culturally, spiritually, and scientifically that embody respect for the intricately interwoven ecosystems which enfold our small planet. The sun, which gives us light and warmth essential to life's development and evolution, is a small star in the Milky Way Galaxy among trillions of other immense, spiraling galaxies strewn across what appears to be an infinite universe. I believe it is important to acknowledge the miracle of our existence made evident through modern scientific knowledge of the cosmos. If we embrace the reality that our existence is miraculous and accept that we are impermanent because death comes to all of us, it will encourage a shift from blind exploitation to a balanced and sustainable cohabitation inspired by respect and understanding of ourselves, our species, and our relationship to the Earth and its diverse ecosystems that surround us.

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Riverbend Sculpture Gardens are peaceful and unusually quiet. When wind blows through the trees, one hears it. As the river cascades over two massive stone spillways, the sound of water echoes softly through woodlands, into meadows, and across lawns. The environmental landscape sculptures and gardens invite contemplation, heightened awareness, and reflection. Because natural surroundings are integral to their presence, the sculptures change visually with shifts in weather and seasons, as do the gardens. When visitors and friends come to walk the grounds with me, they speak about the unusual beauty and tranquility of the place. Children relate with excitement, curiosity, and often exuberant playfulness. The gardens and environmental landscape sculptures are attractive and charming. I know from my own experience because, when I return from walking in nearby pastures, marshes, and woodlands, I often see Riverbend Sculpture Gardens as if for the first time.

                                                                                         Thomas Burnham French©