Bill Botzow (b. 1945)
13 Small Untitled Sculptures, 2003-2018
wood and bark

CAMBIUM (Into the Woods): Works by Bill Botzow

On view June 2 through September 16

“I’ve come to think about the layer in a tree between the bark and the wood. It’s called the cambium. It is very thin and it is most alive. Somehow its cells know to divide in one direction to make wood and in another direction to make bark. The cells also stretch sideways as the woody center gets bigger and in height as the tree grows taller. Its life supports other life. That’s where the beetles live, eat, procreate and die leaving behind their amazing channels that rival exquisite drawings. My path to thinking about the cambium layer comes by noticing, by paying attention to the growing forms we see all around us. Attention, noticing, touching, gathering, ordering, responding has led to sculptures and drawings that I hope in some way honor that liveliest, hidden place where the creative grows.”

Bill Botzow

This exhibition consists of eight watercolor/mixed media works on paper, most of them featuring unspoiled landscape imagery, along with a large scale multi-panel featuring the bug trails the artist mentions in his statement. Also on view, a selection of Botzow’s wood sculptures, created from natural branches gathered from nature and combined into wonderful sculpture forms.