2023 Regional Artist in Residence, Vallorie Henderson’s gifted artwork, Community Nest, is now on display in the Sassafras Room of the Visitor Center. This abundantly sized nest is hand-woven from foraged honeysuckle, curly willow, and vining milkweed for its structure. Vallorie then created felted Merino wool milkweed pods and other fiber mixed media woven within the structure to echo the leaves and natural detritus often used in nest building.
Vallorie hopes that Community Nest will ultimately find its permanent home outdoors in the arboretum, where it can be utilized by the forest’s inhabitants, and the cycle of construction and rebuilding can begin anew. This concept, of artwork being ephemeral and eventually recycled back into nature, makes the time spent with the finished piece all the more precious. Community Nest will be on display in the Sassafras Room through the winter before it is moved to its permanent location outdoors in the spring.
From the Artist:
Having the opportunity to experience Bernheim during all four seasons informed my creative practice in the many ways that life in the woods is never stagnant and always precarious. In the realm of human and plant co-creation, time is irrelevant. Some plants live for centuries, even millennia, while other life spans or gestational periods are fleeting. There is a definite time for birth and growth, often followed by a period of rest as well as death.
Winter is a time for foraging for food, rest, hibernation, and re-seeding. Nests serve as a respite to small animals and birds during the Winter Solstice. Community Nest also represents a burden basket, often used by native peoples to gather food and sustenance from either native or propagated plants.
Spring brings the Vernal Equinox, a time of birth, awakening, sprouting of seeds, and rejuvenation. The nest is often a nursery and first home to new life in the woods.
Summer is a time of growth and pollination following the beginning of life for most plants and woodland creatures in the spring. The forest is lush and full of life. Nests are often empty during the hotter months when refuge is sought in shade or bodies of water.
As the harbinger of winter, fall announces the onset of cooler weather. Birds migrate, seeking homes in warmer climates. It is a time of preparation as all species ready themselves for cooler temperatures. Plants drop seeds for new growth in the coming year.
I have chosen to feature a nest as a common home or dwelling for creatures whose habitat is the woods. It provides food, water, shelter, and space to survive during their varying life spans. The name, Community Nest, was chosen to suggest that a variety of animal and plant life may find it desirable. It is my hope that it will be hung in a secure space somewhere within Bernheim Forest, inviting use by local woodland creatures.
