From Dairy to Studio

By Ruth Spencer
©Marin Independent Journal
Tuesday September 8, 1998
 
When a group of artists interweave arts and crafts and use natural elements provided by the environment as a basis for their inspiration, something powerful and majestic happens.
 
Henry Corning bought the Meadowsweet Dairy complex in 1991 and started renovating the cowshed with only a vague idea about what he would do with the location.  As an artist and painter he had essentially created wall pieces from plywood but knew that there was great stuff laying around on the beaches. Sam Bower, also an artist, appeared just at the right time in 1993. Together they formed a team and were joined later by AlexTereshkin.
Armed with special permits and a crane truck and forklift, they are combing beaches and riverbeds up and down the coast, collecting huge pieces of driftwood. Beaches are protected and regulated territory and permits issued by agencies are required. Most people who collect big chunks of driftwood want to cut them up in some form or another. Burl pieces, for instance, are often sliced into panels and sold to Japan for a high price.

The people at the Dairy, however, have different ideas. They see the beauty in these objects, beauty formed by nature. While there is a recycling as well as a preservation process at hand, there is also an expression of awareness and, as Sam Bower puts it “There is a sort of re-use in what we do, but more than anything it is finding extraordinary natural objects and presenting them in a way which shows that there are things all around us that are beautiful and interesting and that grow and are made naturally. And to honor those things I think is part of our work”.
Since Alex Tereshkin has recently left the group for personal reasons, Henry Corning  and Sam Bower talk about the objects they create. The feeling is that the less is done to the original piece of wood the more impact it creates. Some pieces, partly charred by forest fires, are left as they are. A stone pedestal, found in a quarry, may be added to keep them in a certain position. A rotten section may be carved out. Some small parts may be polished. Perhaps a piece of scrap metal or another piece of wood is added for balance. The results are unique sculptures of unique beauty in which the human touch and nature come together. In one section of the studio a wall has been erected in a semi-circle entirely built with small pieces of driftwood set on top of each other. Like old Roman walls, no cement or nails are used to keep the structure in place.

Henry believes that “there is a great deal of potential in working with natural materials in our cultural hemisphere and in the process raise the value of natural things which exist all around us”.

A site-specific installation is another aspect of creating with nature and engage an entire community in the process. It is taking art to a totally different level and form of expression.  Both Sam and Henry consider site-specific installations very important in their present and future work: “These are outdoor sculptures, sort of interventions that involve materials already at the site with the resulting forms addressing something in that particular spot. For example they might call attention to some geographical feature, the way the land moves or the water level of an irrigation lake would go up and down, or the form of a natural amphitheater. They might even address issues like erosion or nesting habitat of birds or what to do with some waste material people want to get rid of. How does one work that into the place while creating something that is both useful to the site, to the people who live in the area and is also beautiful? By working with the local people one achieves something that is specific to that site and cannot be taken up and placed somewhere else”.

On September 2nd, The Richmond Art Center in the East Bay becomes host to an indoor exhibit of the collaborative work of Henry and Sam as well as an outdoor site-specific installation. The installation, essentially consisting of a huge sandbox with pieces of driftwood, is assembled by volunteers and is changed on an ongoing basis during the 6 months extended period of this courtyard exhibit.

The collaborative work done at the Meadowsweet Dairy has also been exhibited at the Claudia Chaplin Gallery in Stinson Beach, at the Artisans Gallery in Mill Valley, at the Rental Gallery of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art at Fort Mason, in group shows in Los Angeles and at the Berkeley Art Center, at the Japonesque Gallery in San Francisco and at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur. Some pieces have been collected by the diRosa Preserve Museum in Napa Valley. An installation at the Educational Center at Slide Ranch in Marin County makes it possible to observe the movement of the earth and the shift of the land as it very slowly slides into the ocean. Several installations were made in Moab, Utah.

One of Henry’s and Sam’s present dreams is to be able to assist in the creation of the ìMuseum of Art and the Environmentî at the Marin Civic Center. Based on Frank Lloyd Wright’s design, it will be a monument to what Marin County has always stood for. “We would love to do an on location site-work to create awareness and interest and bring other artists similarly inclined to join us.  Artists can help the museum to come into being”. 

Visitors are always welcome at the Meadowsweet Dairy. It is recommended, however, to call beforehand to make sure someone is there. Their website can be accessed at www.meadowsweet-dairy.com