Thermogenesis, is loosely based on one of the few plants that generates its own “body heat” to emerge first through late-winter ice, Eastern skunk cabbage. Skunk cabbage is ubiquitous and ecologically important in the Northeast, yet it attracts little attention. Here, its inflated scale grants it undeniable presence that offers peace and security to visitors who wish to rest or ruminate next to or even within its walls.

 

Thermogenesis evokes wombs and seedpods and signifies trailblazing new beginnings. It is large enough for viewer interaction, providing a secluded yet semipermeable, protective yet un-isolating sitting place. The translucent walls facilitate interactions with the outside even as the sitter remains protected within. The sculpture is delicate, like the fleeting “spring ephemeral” blooms including its namesake.

 

Thermogenesis plays with rapidly changing light during the daytime. Translucent fabric catches the quick shifts in light as it reaches past the canopy and understory to the forest floor. These beams of light silhouette native hay-scented ferns, which are inside, behind, and embedded into the fabric walls of the sculpture. The sculpture integrates into the landscape while highlighting and framing other unassuming native plants. After dark, Thermogenesis glows with its own warmth, lit from within. It is inviting and peaceful. Silhouettes of ferns and sassafras seedlings peek out from behind the fabric, highlighting them and setting them apart from the “crowd” of plants in I-Park’s woods.