Abenaki Walking

Patterson Webster
Abenaki Walking   2012–13
Ash tree branches and trunks, granite, cedar tree trunk, acrylic paint, split rails, barbed wire
Collection of the artist

This site-responsive installation stretches across the Upper Field to pay homage to the creation myth and history of the Abenaki First Nation, the original inhabitants of the land where Glen Villa Art Garden is located. At the top of the field, a large sculpture of a turtle represents the Abenaki belief that the world was created on the back of a turtle; the artist has added a painted post on top of this sculptural form to suggest the chaos that existed before creation. Against this backdrop, inverted branches from the ash tree appear to stride across the field, as the Abenaki did for millennia.