Hook Back River

Artist

Todd Erickson (American, b. 1959)

Date

2016

Medium

Bronze

Dimensions

: 7 3/8 x 6 3/8 x 4 5/8 in. (18.73 x 16.19 x 11.75 cm)

Credit Line

Hope College Collection

Object Number

2016.15

Label

Todd Erickson majored in Biology at Hope College and has maintained a strong interest in the natural environment throughout his subsequent career as an artist. This sculpture belongs to a larger body of Erickson’s work in which he collects fallen branches and fashions them into organic-looking but carefully-arranged compositions. He then builds clay molds around the branches, fires them in a kiln to burn out the wood, and fills the molds with bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) to create sculptures that convey the ever-changing, serendipitous beauty of nature.