Given my recent affinity for old stumps and the silver and warm gray palette of our abundant local driftwood, I gravitated toward the current installation at Mad Art after seeing the cascade of bleached logs through the galleries windows one recent night. From the car it had the effect of tsunami of enormous bleached logs about to burst through the glass storefront.

A visit during the day revealed the space inside that Alison Stigora created for her temporary installation here (‘Salvage’). Venturing deeper and around a corner you find yourself confronted with a high, sweeping mass of giant driftwood that tapers to a gradated prow near the ceiling; a last wave of nature force that is then contrasted with a sheer, tranquil white space formed by a large tent-like structure to one side. An ambient, softly rumbling sound track reinforces the calm side of the equation and invites one to stay and contemplate the opposing forces.

The installation remains in place for only another week, until November 23. Alison Stigora is an artist based in Seattle who has been doing environmental installations with similar material internationally.