Second Nature was created as a temporary sculpture installation, sponsored by the Gateway CDC and the Art Lives Here initiative.

The genesis of the piece came from the site’s history as a used car lot. I decided to create a sculpture with old discarded tires. My goal was to transform the tires so that they looked less like man-made objects, and more like natural ones, echoing the process of growth and decay that had turned the once asphalt covered car lot into an overgrown field full of vegetation and wildlife. 

For the arrangement of the tires, I was inspired by topiary, a gardening technique that shapes live plants by training and clipping them into clearly defined shapes from geometric to fanciful. Topiary can be seen as a visual demonstration of our domination over the natural world. But do we have the control over nature that we think we do? Nature renews and reuses; nothing goes to waste. The same cannot be said for us.

Special Thanks for making this installation possible goes out to Tires of Silver Spring, Capitol Sports Fields and the Gateway CDC.

Week 3: Planting Flowers 

Week 1: Installation Opens! 

Prototyping and Fabrication