The sculpture is constructed of 4" x 4" blocks of cedar that have been cut and shaped then glued together to form a twisting wall, variably 3-4' high forming a circle approximately 60' in diameter. The overall look of the sculpture is organic, although the cedar blocks lend an underlying visual structure to the variegated surface. Saw cuts mark this rough surface, magnifying its folding and bending, allowing an intense play of light and shadow. The cedar surface is treated with graphite, adding further complexity by giving the work a weathered look.

Lower row: Bart Karski, Head of Studio (left), Mark Shunney (right); upper row: David Tukel (left), Rubén Muñoz (center), Arturo Escamilla (right).

Ursula von Rydingsvard and her team put 5,620 man-hours into the making of "Skip to My Lou".

300 circular saw blades (7-1/4")

7 saws (7-1/4" Porter Cable circular saws; all seven were burned in the process of cutting the piece)

42 tables (measuring 3'x3'x8' long) made of 2" x 4" pine plus 1,423 pipe clamps (3/4" Pony Style 50) for lamination and application of graphite

248 three-inch chip brushes to apply the glue during lamination

60 three-inch chip brushes to apply the graphite

The barn (in Kerhonkson, NY) in which the piece was made, was the first automated cow-milking barn built in the United States. The portion used by the team measured 60' by 110'. The sculpture grew beyond the width of the walls, which forced the moving of the section butting against the wall into the center of the circle, enabling the organic flow outward to continue.

It took two 52' flat bed trucks, loaded with double tiers to transport "Skip to My Lou" from Kerkhonkson, NY to Redmond, WA.

"A clean, exacting circle enabled me to react in a way that frolicked and sabotaged that geometry, and yet I embraced it because I wanted it to serve as a container for these primitive structures which grew out of the inside of that circle. Most importantly, I saw this 120' circle as an opportunity to react in a way that felt most potent which for me runs along the veins of the primitive and the raw."

" I feel as if I've made a wandering wall, a short wall that ends up linking to itself in a somewhat circular fashion as though making reference to marks that imply an ancient script or a dance. The wall is low and open, enabling people to participate with it."

"4"x4" by 14' cedar beams that came from British Columbia were used to build this piece. I first make a drawing on the beams of where cuts are to be made. The piece is cut, stacked, then disassembled and glued one layer at a time. A black graphite powder is brushed onto the cedar surface and is then scrubbed away with a scouring pad, enabling some of the cedar to come through the dark surface."
Ursula von Rydingsvard