ROOTWAYs , Text By Curator anne klontz

Creating rituals that promote the magic of nature and our belonging within it is at the core of Rootways by Beatrice Alvestad Lopez who works with craft techniques like woodworking. As the title suggests, Rootways refers to the complex root system between plants, however these sculptures nourish each other through a tangle of wires. Her installation is a shrine connecting rituals from the past with the contemporary world and radiates with a magical ambiance. At thE center of the shrine stands a pillar of wood that rises like a Tower of Babel with chiseled carvings that cover the entire surface. The markings appear like hieroglyphic language for insects andanimals who depend on wood for food and shelter. Around the tower are smaller shrines: ceramic goblets overflowing with dried moss as well as cross-sections of hollow, treasure holding tree trunks that serve as instruments. The artist is interested in the gestures and movements we perform in relation to exploring and being part of nature, and how they can be translated as a ritual. With Rootways, she encourages natural and human worlds to interact as visitors can touch the instruments to activate sounds and their own senses. With each sound played, an ephemeral, otherworldly score is performed. It is an interaction that creates intimacy with materials and serves as a metaphor for how we have lost touch with nature due to the prevalence of technology. Gestures such as carving wood, digging in the dirt, picking flowers or collecting shells all relate to performing a ritual with nature.