My Tree of Life design took advantage of the lobby’s full Eastern exposure and the existing horizontal bands delineating the wall planes.  The raised bands allowed me to float the tree 1/2" off the wall and utilize the passage of sunlight to create a play of shadows which skate across the raised surface of the Tree.  The brass and copper leaves are highlighted by both natural and ambient light.

A full-scale drawing was installed on site in order to adjust and enhance my original sketch, finalize leaf placement and begin the process of sectioning the Tree in order to produce each of the 6 metal sections in my studio.

Once in the studio, I worked atop a 20ft x 12ft table unrolling and positioning the pattern sections for translation into the 1/2" aluminum flat bar used to create the body of the Tree.  Tommy Dunn at Austin Architectural Graphics was able to produce the copper and brass leaves from my patterns and AAG will eventually apply the donor names.

John Sager from The Blanton Museum provided the professional assistance required for the meticulously engineered installation system.  The Tree of Life is permanently housed in the NE lobby of the Seay Building on UT’s main campus.