My photo
My practice encompasses a variety of experimental processes that animate both natural and constructed environments, seeking to form connections between culture, nature and place. I am concerned with how physical, tactile interactions in nature can shape our inner experiences and understanding of the world. I currently live and work in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Yellow Field



I used clay collected from the river which was rubbed on the trees in
bands, then attached yellow leaves collected from the field below




Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Earth- Art- Walk

I will be hosting a slide presentation and working with interpreters to offer a guided walk at the Helen Schuler Nature Center on Sunday the 20th from 2pm to 3 pm. There will be a 15 minute slide presentation and a 45 minute walk through the park to view the site specific works created for the Earth- Art- Walk project.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Earth- Art- Walk



Earth- Art- Walk is a self-guided walking tour through the Helen Schuler Nature Center of site-specific environmental sculptures by local artist Troy Nickle. The numbers on the map correspond to the numbered works listed below.

This exhibition is part of the centennial celebrations for the Highlevel Bridge, but was conceived as an alternative context for the bridge, it’s history and it’s landscape. “Earth- Art- Walk” celebrates the landscape from which the bridge rises, and was created with a philosophy of natural harmony and environmental sensitivity.
This project wouldn’t be possible without the assistance and consent of the Helen Schuler Nature Center.
-Bowman Arts Centre, August, 2009

Artist Statement

Through creating ephemeral and figurative site-specific interventions I hope to explore a relationship to the land that reflects balance, harmony and impermanence. I find wider social relationships can be explored in contexts beyond the gallery walls. For me the landscape is part of the work and provides a greater environment in which to interpret its meaning. Through my work I try to bring a new awareness and expression to a place. I consider each intervention as a marker, which can become a point of interest along a traveled path or simply embrace the site. Much of my work exists temporarily, overtime the work eventually decays, erodes and falls back into the site from which it came. This is part of the overall process of the work, reflecting the impermanence of all living things in a natural cycle both of creation and eventual destruction. Usually the destruction of the material is only a transformation where the material then takes on a new life, providing nourishment for the soil or a habitat for a small creature.

1. Seed





Fallen branches collected and stacked.



2. Populus



Soil collected from ground and mixed with water to create mud which was rubbed on tree and sculpted into face

3. Resonate (before and after)



4. Untitled

Drawing made from charcoal collected from a fire pit.

Populus 2



river clay on cottonwood


6.Untitled



7. Untitled



Saturday, August 1, 2009

Beyond Mesopotamia







I collected driftwood sticks along the shore of this island created by the river. The soft earth allowed me to stand the sticks into the sand and clay. I would weave longer strands of young flexible branches through the driftwood sticks to define the form of a vessel. I decided after some time to include a figure. Applying sand and clay to a stick from a beaver dam I was able to create the head, torso and leg of the body. Additional sticks were used for two arms and the other leg.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Vessel


walking along the shore, a warm summer's day
flowing river, driftwood, mud, bushes
wandering, exploring materials and earth
collecting, placing, bending, walking, floating
a voyager and wanderer



Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Presence



The outline of her body lying flat on the landscape
the shape defined using driftwood and water.
Starring into the sky, between heaven and earth.

Monday, July 20, 2009

The Seed, the Tree and the Rain Man




This installation was created for the Ruin and Reclamation exhibition. My body was the template for the figure on the wall which was rubbed on with mud. The tree limb is a clipping from an apple tree and the soil is from the garden in our backyard. I found an abandon chunk of cement in the basement where i was creating the installation and decided to include it. To create continuity and ambiguity I covered the cement chunk with mud. I feel as though I am like a director creating a scene with objects to build narrative and explore relationships. I want this work to reflect the end of one cycle and the beginning of another.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Continuum





As I was walking along the river contemplating an intervention I noticed a pool of water on the shore in the shape of a flat oval. I decided to reinforce this shape to make it more pronounced and symmetrical by adding stones around it. I also decided that it would be interesting to create a loop by adding an island of stones in the middle. It took me about an hour to pile the stones into the pool because it was over a foot deep in the center. Once i had accomplished this I decided to add stones to the pool directly above to accentuate a circle. I am pleased with the way this piece worked out.