Brandon Vickerd’s seven steel trees “sway and rustle as if propelled by an invisible wind,” driven by timers and power couplings hidden from view. Modeled on trees in Tom Thomson’s famous paintings of Northern Ontario, they reflect on Canadians’ identification with the landscape of the “great white North.” “As a kinetic sculptor,” says Vickerd, “my work has been primarily invested in emulating organic movement through mechanical means.” He renders organic forms in industrial materials “in order to engage a viewer in a dialogue around our mediated experiences with the natural world.”
