Catherine Burgess and Sandra Bromley, 'Big Rock'

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Artist Info: Catherine Burgess has already been featured on the blog back in June for her sculpture 'Return'. For those who are not familiar with her work or the previous post, Burgess is Alberta-born and attended the University of Alberta where she focused in sculpture. She is best known for her steel sculptures, many of which are scattered around the city and university campus.  

Burgess completed 'Big Rock' with Sandra Bromley, another Canadian artist. Bromley also graduated from the U of A and has been recognized for her work both as an artist and with humanitarian aid efforts. She is probably best known for her massive work 'Gun Sculpture' which she completed with Wallis Kendal. The work is meant to discuss war, violence and black market weapons trafficking. Bromley is also known around Edmonton for her role in developing the iHuman Youth Society - a group that works with high risk youth to teach and create art. 

'Big Rock' consists of 62 tons of granite with a living tree on top and sits at the intersection of Rice Howard Way and 101A Street. The work was a commission from The Places in 1995. According to The Places website, the artists worked with a geologist and searched all over the country to find just the right piece of granite. Once they had found the rock, it was blasted out in 3 parts and shipped to Edmonton.

My Thoughts: I had been planning this blog post for a while so you can imagine my frustration when I walked up and saw that it is half-covered because of the nearby construction!! I have included my photo as well as a photo of the full work from The Works' website. (photo credit below). Still, it is interesting to see how it is being protected. A great example of public art conservation in action! 

I have always been drawn to this work and am happy it is finally featured on the blog. I find the historic-looking stone matches well with the cobblestone road and heritage buildings along Rice Howard Way. Also, I like the inclusion of the small tree on top of the rock. It makes me think of a small piece of nature nearly lost within the infrastructure. It also reminds me of the wind-blown pines growing out of the rock on the Canadian Shield.

Unfortunately, I don't know much about the artists' inspiration for this piece. If you have any information, please post it to the blog!!

* Photo credit: http://www.theworks.ab.ca/placesfolder/tour/pages/001.html