Gone but not forgotten: Brown’s beloved elm gets new life in the form of handcrafted art

The wood for the project comes from elm pieces left aside when the tree was removed. Brown Design Workshop received a total of eight seven-foot branches from Brown’s Facilities Management team, which oversees the university’s 155-acre campus and maintains approximately 2,500 trees.

On a recent September afternoon, Spilker continued his work, creating abstract sculptures from elm wood, carving and refining them to his satisfaction. The previous days involved splitting a portion of the wood, sawing, stripping the bark and carving the pieces. Each day brings different steps, especially because it’s more in the moment rather than carefully prepared plans.

“I don’t plan everything in advance in my sculpture process,” Spilker said. “I don’t just have a set design that I follow. “I’ll do something and sit with it for a while until I figure out what the next step is – I’m just minding business, honestly.”

This creative process has served Spilker well in the past, including when he created a sculpture out of wood in New Hampshire’s Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park. As for how Spilker hopes people will accept the new project, he’s still working on that himself.

“I try not to over-define the concept beforehand; “It evolves with the piece itself,” he said. “Once I finish the first one and start to get an idea of ​​where these works will go, I will have a clearer idea of ​​what I want to convey to the viewer or viewer.”