WildFire, a sculpture by Natalie Tyler, is in the foreground. Her sculpture, Thaw, hangs from the branches of an apple tree in the distance.
Natalie Tyler is seen at Chesterwood with her sculpture Thaw.
Thaw and WildFire are seen in the apple orchard at Chesterwood.
WildFire, a sculpture by Natalie Tyler, is in the foreground. Her sculpture, Thaw, hangs from the branches of an apple tree in the distance.
STOCKBRIDGE — Icicles of varying shades of blue and white glisten in the sunlight as they dangle from the limbs of a 100-year-old apple tree on the edge of Chesterwood’s historic orchard.
What: 'Fire & Ice,' a site-specific art installation by Natalie Tyler
Where: Chesterwood, 4 Williamsville Road, Stockbridge
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays through Mondays through Oct. 24. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Admission: Tyler's work, located adjacent to the parking lot can be viewed without purchasing tickets. To tour Chesterwood or the grounds tickets are required.
Tickets: $20, adults; $18, seniors; $15, military; $10, college students and young adults age 13 and over; free for children under 13; $10 for the grounds only. Admission for Berkshire residents is half price on weekends through Oct. 24
Information: 413-298-2023, chesterwood.org
The icicles are a reminder of the ever-present threat of frost, says artist Natalie Tyler, who made over 50 hand-blown icicles for Thaw, one of two sculptural works in her site-specific installation, “Fire and Ice.”
“I wanted to do it out of season to give you that feeling, that fear of ‘what if there was a frost at harvest time?’,” she said during a recent visit to her studio at Chesterwood, where “Fire and Ice” is on view through Oct. 24.
Thaw and WildFire are seen in the apple orchard at Chesterwood.
“There are some cast glass elements but those parts are ladle cast,” Tyler said of the work. “I made a mold and then we took the molten glass out of the furnace and poured it over the mold to create the ice that flows over the branches. Each one of the icicles is blown by hand. With some of them, I was trying to get that kind of Tiffany-opalescent feel. I experimented a lot with the different colors that I was mixing into the glass to try to get that icy feel.”
Nearby, Wildfire, a cast-glass and bronze sculpture of a burning tree engulfed in flames, stands in juxtaposition to Thaw. The pair are part of a series exploring how climate change is affecting our world through rising sea levels, devastating wildfires and melting glaciers.
Tyler's artistic practice begins with sculpted wax, which she builds molds around. She then melts the wax, replacing it with molten glass or bronze.
“I've been gaining a lot of inspiration by being here — inspiration by [Daniel Chester French’s] work and the natural landscape of Chesterwood itself,” she said. “A lot of my work is based out of nature.”
Thaw was created during her artist’s residency at the historic home and studio of Daniel Chester French, a collaboration between the Berkshire Art Center, formerly IS183, and Chesterwood.
“They bring in artists from the Berkshires to get inspired by the cultural institutions,” Tyler said. “I applied for it back in the spring, got accepted, got really excited and came here and started working in June. I worked on this June, July and August.”
Natalie Tyler is seen at Chesterwood with her sculpture Thaw.
During her residency at Chesterwood, Tyler was able to work inside of French’s studio.
“I did have some quiet moments in there, with just his work, getting inspired and being able to sculpt,” she said. “I’m kind of doing a return to the figure with a project I’m going to be working on, having been working in there and getting inspired by his winged figures.”
Originally from Encinitas, Calif., Tyler has a studio, L’Atelier Berkshires, in Great Barrington.
What: 'Fire & Ice,' a site-specific art installation by Natalie Tyler
Where: Chesterwood, 4 Williamsville Road, Stockbridge
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays through Mondays through Oct. 24. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Admission: Tyler's work, located adjacent to the parking lot can be viewed without purchasing tickets. To tour Chesterwood or the grounds tickets are required.
Tickets: $20, adults; $18, seniors; $15, military; $10, college students and young adults age 13 and over; free for children under 13; $10 for the grounds only. Admission for Berkshire residents is half price on weekends through Oct. 24
Information: 413-298-2023, chesterwood.org
Jennifer Huberdeau can be reached at jhuberdeau@berkshireeagle.com or 413-496-6229. On Twitter: @BE_DigitalJen
Jennifer Huberdeau is The Eagle's features editor. Prior to The Eagle, she worked at The North Adams Transcript. She is a 2021 Rabkin Award Winner, 2020 New England First Amendment Institute Fellow and a 2010 BCBS Health Care Fellow.
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