Natalie Tyler / Fire & Ice
September 2 - october 24, 2022

A site-specific installation in the historic apple orchard at Chesterwood

STOCKBRIDGE, MA - Berkshire Art Center Artist-In-Residence Natalie Tyler will open her exhibition Fire and Ice with a free reception from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 2 in the historic apple orchard at Chesterwood.

The heart of the Berkshire Artist Residency is to give local visual artists the opportunity to create new work inspired by their home county. The tailored program gives visual artists exclusive access to world class cultural facilities and historic landmarks to develop new work that intertwines with the fabric of our county. This summer, the three month long residencies were held at Chesterwood (Natalie Tyler) and the Red Lion Inn (Jody King Camarra). The Berkshire Artist Residency is supported in part by a grant from the Lee Bank Foundation and the Stockbridge Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. In addition, Chesterwood has awarded $250 to Natalie Tyler from the Lee M. Weiser Memorial Fund in support of a sculptor-in-residence.

While an Artist-in-Residence at Chesterwood, Tyler has created site specific outdoor sculpture inspired by the natural landscape. Tyler’s sculpture explores the fragile and forceful elements of nature. Her most recent sculptures are large scale and about the effects of climate change on the environment. These works symbolize the elements of fire, air, earth and water.

Thaw, a site-specific sculpture created during her residency, is installed on a tree within the historic orchard at Chesterwood. Tyler made 50-plus glass icicles that hang from the tree representing the changing weather of our seasons. The icicles glistening in the sun will be seen in the late summer and early fall, warning of a major possible frost during the harvest season.

Another sculpture, WildFire, pairs with Thaw to convey another effect of climate change. WildFire combines various colors of crystal glass, bronze and wood to convey a burning tree that has been engulfed in flames. The flames are cast in the glass so that the sun illuminates the fire as the daylight passes through.

These sculptures will be on view during the months of September and October.  There is no fee to view Tyler’s installation in the apple orchard but Chesterwood does require an admission fee to tour the historic studio, permanent collections and outdoor sculpture exhibition “Elemental Matters: The Sculpture of Jonathan Prince.”  Chesterwood is the former summer home and studio of one of America’s most important and prolific monumental sculptors, Daniel Chester French (1850-1931).  Chesterwood is open to the public for touring Thursdays through Mondays from 10:00am to 5:00pm.  More information at www.chesterwood.org.

Natalie Tyler is an artist whose sculpture has been shown in galleries and museums across the United States and Europe. Her work, Eagle’s Nest, is in the “Innovators in Contemporary Glass” exhibition at The Sandwich Glass Museum in Cape Cod, Massachusetts from July- October 2022. She lives and works in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. To see more of her sculptures, visit www.natalietylerart.com, Instagram: @natalietylerart. To schedule a studio visit, contact Tyler at 510-469-5468.

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