Vessels

Description: Comprised of 18 individual sculptures in eight groupings along the main path that runs roughly between the bus stop on 15th to the toolshed at the top of the hill in the Beacon Food Forest. The Food Forest is located at the Beacon Reservoir/Jefferson Park at 16th Avenue South.

Nicole Kistler created a process that included collecting stories from community members (that were shared in audio file) and creating seed balls during Food Forest work parties. Out of that engagement, the artist designed cast iron artworks that resemble seeds, berries and storage vessels. On the organic sculptures, the artist has inscribed quotes from the collected stories.

 

Artist Statement: Since the Beacon Reservoir is a container for water, I built on the concept of Vessels for the Beacon Food Forest located there. Vessels hold water, they hold food. Blueberries, tomatoes and pomegranates are fruits that hold seeds. Seeds hold DNA. Mushrooms are containers that hold spores. We are vessels that hold stories. 

From those basic ideas, I created a three-part program for the Food Forest. I began with a series of audio interviews where I collected volunteers’ food stories and traditions. I edited those into an 8-minute audio piece. Next, I took pieces of those stories and quotes and embedded them into a series of 18, cast-iron sculptures. The sculptures are themselves a sort of vessel inspired by fruits and mushrooms, and carry the stories forward into the future. Like cookware, they will rust and weather with time and eventually decay.  Finally, I conducted a series of seed-ball workshops. The seed-balls held seeds too that became the underplantings for the sculptures. 

Location: Jefferson Park, Beacon Hill Food Forest, S Dakota Street, Seattle WA 98108