In early February, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported that nearly 1.2 million cubic yards of debris had been cleared from North Carolina since Hurricane Helene. That figure doesn’t account for the small mountain of materials repurposed by Thomas Schram. After the storm, the Asheville sculptor and art educator salvaged a metal shed crushed by two pines, the branches from those pines, fiber optic cables, a water-damaged dresser, and empty potable water boxes. He then used these found materials — “debris essentially,” he says — to create a flume-like sculpture that is now on display at The Bascom in Highlands. According to the visual arts center, the installation “draws inspiration from the environmental and historical scars left by Hurricane Helene and the logging industry.” Further, “By incorporating found objects and repurposed media, Schram crafts a poignant exploration of destruction, renewal, and shared histories, inviting viewers to consider humanity’s impact on the environment and the potential for recovery.” This isn’t Schram’s first time dealing with detritus. Several years ago, when he was working at the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia, he would “routinely amass piles of cardboard boxes.” Not one to let anything go to waste, he began using a laser cutter to incise these boxes with textures of pine needles and bark as a way of commenting on the history of the material (i.e., that it was once a living, breathing tree). “My work has always been interested in creating a space to slow down and observe things in a deeper way than the current pace that life tends to allow,” says Schram. His show, Holding Water, runs through May 10.
Holding Water: Through May 10
Thompson Gallery at The Bascom: Center for the Visual Arts / 323 Franklin Rd., Highlands / thebascom.org