VanDusen Gardens ~ The Council of Elders

The Council of Elders is present at VanDusen Gardens this summer. 

There are eleven in the group and as one approaches,
a meeting of some sort is obviously taking place.

The Council of Elders is the work of Denman Island artist Michael Dennis, and is part of a collection of art works set to open at VanDusen on June 20th. The collection, featuring twenty-four wood sculptures and installations, celebrates the culture of wood, is called Touch Wood.

Michael Dennis arrived on Denman in the 1980s, the same time he left the academy of science for the practice of art. Dennis has a PhD in Neurophysiology from Standford University. He creates large figures from salvaged cedar and the Elders are all in excess of 3.5 m in height. They are abstract yet intentional, with power and personality, and they certainly seem to be purposeful standing in the Garden.