Stephanie Beck: Bough in Wave Hill

hot air

If you haven’t visited the little paradise up in the Bronx called Wave Hill recently, now is the time to go there, not only to experience the beautiful gardens but to see exhibitions that are not to be missed, one of them being Stephanie Beck’s Bough. Beck, who has always been a risk-taking sculptor, either building cities out of paper or manipulating wood into gravity-defying constructions, speaks with me about her latest body of work constructed from materials found at Wave Hill and bringing to light crucial environmental issues beautifully and elegantly. This is the last week to see the show, which runs through December 1st, 2024.

AS: In this exhibition, you bring awareness to some important environmental issues. Can you please talk about specific issues surrounding birds and ecosystems?

SB: Yes! I have no scientific training, but I’ve been an amateur birder for six or seven years now, and I get a lot of my information from the Cornell Ornithology Lab. Through them, I’ve learned that bird populations in North America have declined by almost 3 billion since 1970. That’s more than 1 in 4 birds that have been lost. Common birds, such as members of the sparrow, finch, blackbird, and warbler families, have been most impacted. This is due to a variety of human-related issues including climate change, loss of habitat, impacts with buildings and cars, and cat predation, among others. The loss of birds impacts pollination, seed dispersal, and insect populations, which in turn affects the balance and health of ecosystems and reduces biodiversity.

Deforestation and forest degradation due to agriculture, wildfires, disease, and insects, among other causes, are larger and more visible issues with major losses of forest cover around the world. In the US alone we’ve lost millions of native trees like Beech, Elm, and Ash to disease, fungi, and insect infestation.

Despite all of these horrible developments, it is important to remember that there are a lot of people working to undo or mitigate the damage we have caused. There is enormous good being done, and we can all be a part of that.

AS: Your sound piece specifically is experimental and interactive. How did you arrive at this piece and how would a gallery visitor get the full experience?

SB: During the height of the pandemic I attended a webinar about birding by ear, and it opened up a whole new auditory world to me. I learned the sounds of the species that surround us everyday, so when I heard something different I knew to look more closely for the unfamiliar bird. However it can be much easier to hear a bird than see it, especially when the bird stops vocalizing once I come near it. The sound piece both captures that small frustration while birding, that something wild doesn’t allow me to get close to it, while also referring to the larger impact humans have on nature. In the sound piece, a loop of eight regional migratory birds whose populations are declining plays continuously in the space, attached to a motion sensor. The sequence of birds roughly follows the level of population decline, so the first bird (White-Throated Sparrow) is more common and less impacted than the eighth bird (Bobolink). Once a visitor activates the sensor, the sound stops for a few seconds and then starts again at the beginning of the loop. In order to hear all eight birds, visitors must stay still. The piece is an invitation to stop our actions in order to allow the birds to sing. Ideally visitors would take this opportunity to remain still in the space for four and a half minutes and pay attention to the sounds they are hearing. There is also a printed list available that identifies the birds in order by name and with photos.

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AS: Can you please elaborate on your process of wood constructions?

SB: I construct most of my wood sculptures by hinging pieces of processed wood together to create flexible lines. I cut the ends of the wood pieces into a simple hinge, which I connect with a peg made from dowels, skewers, or chopsticks. I use these flexible wood lines to create abstract sculptural “drawings” that hang on or jut out from the wall. A couple of years ago I began to attach found branches to the lines, which took the work in a new direction and added elements of organic growth to my more controlled, handmade process. This created an interesting juxtaposition that inspired thoughts about our control over and exploitation of the natural world. I tend to be pessimistic about our environmental situation, but as I started reading about human interactions with trees, I also learned more about people’s efforts to protect and preserve them. These efforts, sometimes successful, sometimes futile, are reflected in my “mending” of the branches that break while I’m working with them. I use human-made materials to reattach broken pieces, including glue, rice paper, twine, and leather.

AS: Some of these pieces were conceived after your initial idea of the show. Can you please talk about the mother piece “Host” and how the idea grew into this exhibition? Where do your materials come from?

SB: I collected all of the natural materials from the debris pile at Wave Hill, which contains a wide variety of plant material cut across the grounds. It was amazing to have access to this large volume of material and to be able to ask the gardening staff for help identifying it. As you mentioned, “Host” was the only piece I knew I was going to make when I proposed the exhibition. I also proposed creating three to five other sculptures, whose form I didn’t yet know. So I was betting on the fact that I could collect enough material for all of these pieces. I did my first haul last December, and went back for more material this summer.

“Host” is an expansion on an earlier, smaller piece that included London Plane branches I collected around in my apartment. Both pieces consist of hinged lines that balance on end on the wall, held into place by individual strings. This precarious attachment reflects our tenuous environmental situation, which seems poised to tip into unstoppable devastation (if it hasn’t already). The branches I used for Host (Clethra acuminata, or Mountain Pepperbush) are more delicate than the London Plane branches, and I was continuously breaking the fine, fragile twigs at the end of the branches. I started “mending” them by reattaching them with rice paper and glue, which I left visible. Other larger twigs or branchlets are reconnected with pegs, twine, or leather and glue. These visible acts of repair became a reference to the numerous ways humanity is trying to protect and preserve wildlife and the Earth.

After creating “Host” I worked with the remaining material to see what ideas it suggested. Each sculpture was inspired by the specific plant material used, but also influenced by how we interact with trees around the city, by books I was reading about urban forests and tree to tree communication through fungal networks, and by humanity’s desire to colonize Mars, where we will have to recreate the Earth we’ve left behind. The pieces contain these ideas, but are also quiet and minimal. Being in nature is one place where I feel most at peace, so I wanted the exhibition to become a similar space for attention and contemplation.

AS: After this show, where do you see your work going? I feel like it’s a beginning of a much larger exploration.

SB: I would love to scale my work up even more and create large outdoor pieces using found plant material and wood. I also would love to work with another garden center and continue to learn more about the plants I am using. The sound piece was an exciting development, so it would be amazing to learn about recording sounds myself for future projects. I love the ocean and bays, in addition to forests, so it would be interesting to work with the sounds and forms of plants and animals along local shorelines. Continuing to enjoy and learn more about birds, trees, and ecosystems is a life-long project.

AS: As a city dweller, an artist, and an environmental activist (should I call you that?), how can individuals make a difference and support the birds and ecosystems in the urban environment? (I’m diverting here but feels relevant)

SB: I think the most powerful actions we can take are political. The issues are so large and widespread that we need to support grassroots, Indigenous, and government-led initiatives, all of which are going to be threatened in the upcoming administration. We can vote for representatives who will work to protect the environment and the people and wildlife most affected by climate change and pollution. We can also support or volunteer for non-profits, like NYC Bird Alliance and the National Resource Defence Council, among many others, who will help with local and national legislation and will pose legal challenges to the anti-environmental efforts that are sure to come. As for some specific local actions, NYC Bird Alliance provides information on legislative actions people can take right now, such as asking their representatives to support Lights Out Legislation and the Flaco Act, both of which aim to reduce bird deaths by building strikes. We can also advocate for full funding levels to be returned to NYC Parks, which has had their budget reduced by millions of dollars. There are so many local, national, and global actions to take and organizations to support; it just means making the effort to look for them. We will all be affected by climate change in one way or another–working to protect the environment ultimately protects us all.

AS: Thank you for sharing and mentioning these incredible organizations! With this severe drought and fires everywhere, I think it’s hard to ignore the environmental crisis we are facing here in our backyard.

SB: Thank you so much for the opportunity to discuss this work and these issues! I also would like to share a few books that influenced me as I was making this work: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, Urban Forests by Jill Jonnes, and Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard. Finally, I would like to encourage everyone to get outside and really look at and listen to the natural world around you. It is a wonder.

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Stephanie Beck | Bough at Wave Hill through December 1st, 2024

About the writer: Anna Shukeylo is an artist, writer, educator, and curator working and living in the New York Metropolitan area. She has written for Artcritical, Painters on Painting, and ArtSpiel. Her paintings have been exhibited in solo exhibitions at Kean University, NJ, Manchester University, IN, and in group shows at Auxier/Kline, Equity Gallery, Stay Home Gallery, among others. @annashukeylo