Clay Ellis, 'Lodge'

Artist background: Clay Ellis works in the Edmonton area as both an artist and a sessional instructor at the University of Alberta. He was born in Medicine Hat and studied at both Medicine Hat College and the Banff School of Fine Arts. Much of his early sculptural works were in ceramics and concrete but he has been creating pieces in steel since the 1980s. While the early steel works have a limited colour and texture, Ellis has begun playing with light, colour range and surface texture in his more recent pieces. Much of this can be seen in ‘Lodge’.

The work ‘Lodge’ was installed in Churchill Square in 2005 and commissioned for the city’s 100^th anniversary. It stands at the South-West corner of the Square and is easily visible to individuals entering the Square from the library or mall walkways. The work consists of a tall tent-like sculpture made of stainless steel and a polyurethane painted post standing beside the steel structure.

My thoughts: The title implies somewhere people can gather, visit and feel welcome - an appropriate connection to Churchill Square as a central meeting place in the city. I like the shine of this work because it stands out from the other patina steel sculptures dotting the city. While I walked by the work many times without noticing the painted pole, on closer inspection I enjoyed the subtle inclusion of colour to stand out against the abundant dark and monochromatic sculptures in the city.

Let me know what you think about this work! If you haven’t seen it before but would like to, hop on any bus that stops at City Centre Mall or get off at the Churchill Square LRT station.