Bruce Conkle Exhibition Statement & Artist Bio

Exhibition Statement
Tree Clouds is an exhibition of new sculptures and mixed media drawings constructed by Bruce Conkle with his own peculiar brand of dark humor. The title "Tree Clouds" refers to the smoke produced when aromatic resin from trees is burned. The scented clouds are literally puffs of smoke that had their origins from within the trees. Several of the sculptures are bronze incense burners, and periodically during the exhibition they will be used to burn aromatic resins collected from trees native to the Pacific NW as incense. Conkle has gathered the aromatic resins from various trees of the Pacific Northwest - including Sitka Spruce, Douglas Fir, Ponderosa Pine and Shore Pine. He will be burning some the collected incense on Thursday afternoons at 4 pm, as well as random times throughout the month.

Artist Bio
Bruce Conkle declares an affinity for mysterious natural phenomenon such as snow, tree burls, crystals, volcanoes, rainbows, fire, and meteorites. His work combines art and humor to address contemporary attitudes toward nature and environmental concerns. Conkle's work often deals with man's place within nature, and frequently examines what he calls the "misfit quotient" at the crossroasds. His work has shown around the world, including Ulaanbaatar, Reykjavik, Rio De Janeiro, New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Seattle et all. Bruce Conkle received an Oregon Arts Commission Artist Fellowship in 2010 and a 2011 Hallie3 Ford Fellowship in the Visual Arts.