A single wooden sculpture dominates the Nightingale-Brown House’s gallery space. Gail Whitsitt-Lynch’s giant, abstract carving called “BitterSweet” has been on display since May, and leaves the exhibit today.
“BitterSweet” was carved from the wood of a recently felled 94-year-old elm tree, which was cut down in 2014 after becoming infected with elm disease. The sculpture debuted at an event that attracted about 50 people, said Ron Potvin, curator of the exhibit and assistant director of the John Nicholas Brown Center. Since the opening event, the exhibit has attracted people interested in the history of the tree, as well as those from the art community interested in the sculpture itself, said Whitsitt-Lynch.
Whitsitt-Lynch said the sculpture’s title mirrors the public’s sentiment about the tree: “things passing and changing and so forth.” Alone in the center of the exhibit space, “BitterSweet” is surrounded by four walls filled with photographs and blocks of text detailing both the process of creating the sculpture and the elm tree’s place in the history of Providence. Potvin said he was responsible for writing the text describing the history of this particular elm tree and of elm trees in the United States in general.
Throughout the exhibit’s development, Potvin’s text added a new dimension to the visuals of the exhibit that made the show successful, Whitsitt-Lynch said. The opportunity to unite visual art with the humanities in a single task created a “nice balance,” she said, adding that she hopes this balance was also communicated to the people who came to see the exhibit.
“We both were very energized by the tree,” Whitsitt-Lynch said of herself and Potvin.
Whitsitt-Lynch, who practices direct carving, said she had the chance to work directly with the trunk of the original elm tree while creating “BitterSweet.” When creating a carving, she looks at the object in front of her in order to see what the form suggests before starting carving, she said. Then, she begins “accentuating” what she likes and “getting rid of” what she cares for less.
Whitsitt-Lynch said she hopes to create artwork people will react to, with forms that are evocative enough to “kick in something from somewhere in (the viewer’s) past” and “set up the beginning of a conversation.” Whitsitt-Lynch said she poses questions to viewers through her artwork, in hopes of creating a personal, introspective experience to make each person “feel cooperative in what’s going on.”
The Nightingale-Brown House holds the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage. Potvin said the John Nicholas Brown Center has been holding exhibits since 2006 and is open to suggestions for future exhibits dealing with local art or history.
