Lodge

Lodge is a community-oriented sacred space intended to give people a structure to enter, sit close to the earth, and either contemplate alone or interact with one another. The sculpture is inspired from the Lakota “inipi “ or sweat lodge, a structure essential to peoples around the earth as a place for purification and renewal. Lodge is constructed in a sacred manner, as a response to living in an urban environment, where contact with nature is diminished and spiritual connection is often impaired. The space is a hallowed feminine vessel, which visitors can reconnect with the fundamental aspects of their lives.

Lodge is built with rituals borrowed from traditional cultures and elders who have passed their wisdom on to me. This includes setting intentions for the space, calling in the directions, and positioning the entrance in accordance with the landscape, river, and surrounding energies. The physical construction of Lodge is done on site by bending and weaving long hardwood strips and tying them together at the joints. As more strips are woven into the structure, it becomes extremely strong and durable. The joints are reinforced with recycled strips of inner tubes, and the community is invited to tie red cloth strips to the joints as a way to participate and add beauty and longevity to the structure. Participants are enticed to enter by the presence of low benches for seating and a central mandala of objects that changes as pieces are added, subtracted, or rearranged by visitors.

The entrance is intricate and inviting, made with serpentine branches and vines twisting around the threshold. Those who enter have to crawl on hands and knees, a sign that we all are on an equal level when entering sacred space.