GROUND TO FLOURISH.
Beauty honors loss.
Sarah McGrath asks, "What if we honored the endings and the literal jagged edges, the sharp and harsh reality of loss and destruction that comes into our lives so abruptly and unannounced or, sometimes, painfully slow?"
Ridgewood Films
Overview
Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii) is a resilient and striking tree species native to the Pacific Northwest. Characterized by its glossy evergreen leaves and smooth and peeling bark, it provides vital food and nesting habitat.
One specimen outside the House’s nook grew at an impressive diagonal and was one of Anker owner Matt’s favorite trees. Sadly, when a large Red alder toppled during a winter storm, it took about three-quarters of the beloved madrone with it.
In late 2024, Matt reached out to Sarah McGrath, a Bremerton-based sculptor and floral designer, to explore how they might honor the tree with an installation inside the House. Over the course of several months, its form took shape.
Ridgewood Films
Full Circle Photograph
The Threshold
-By Sarah McGrath
Her body split
cracked, violently
in a winter storm
Her entire being
splintered in half
There she hung
in the balance,
on the threshold
between two worlds
...
I waded through the web of wreckage
twisted branches scraping my thighs
I was deep in her grave,
searching for life
Do you want to be resurrected?
I whispered quietly.
Which parts would you like to leave behind?
...
I wasn't there to witness
her Final Fall
but when I carried her broken limbs
up the hill to the House
I could hear the wailing sounds
of severance
And, I knew in my bones
this was the beginning of the excruciating end
the separation
of us
From Sarah:
"Initially, I envisioned an installation of branches that would physically connect and intertwine with one another, resembling an actual tree. However, as Matt and I began to assemble the limbs, we posed two questions- 'What if there was space to create suspense and uncertainty?' and 'What if we honored the endings and the literal jagged edges that comes into our lives abruptly and unannounced or, sometimes, painfully slow?'
The contrast of jarring shapes and bold lines softened by delicate and ethereal golden clouds of hydrangea and allium has been my own experience of grief: intense pain, ache, and longing intersected with moments of magic, beauty, and delight.
Inspired by Ikebana, the Japanese art form of arranging flowers meaning "to make come alive", the branches ascend upward, weaving and working their way in and out of the walls, made to appear as if they are growing out of the very heart of Anker House. Instead of obscuring the scars, I accentuated their wildly unique shapes with gold paint, as a nod to the Japanese art form kintsugi. Often associated with repaired ceramics, these wounds are honored as integral parts of the whole. Akin to the madrone, I have found strength, resilience, wisdom and profound beauty can be forged from great loss and suffering.
May this grief piece hold space for you in the in between and comfort you as you navigate the most daunting of thresholds.
My heart is with you,
Sarah
Video stills by Ridgewood Films.
About the Resident
Sarah McGrath
BOTANICAL SCULPTOR
Sarah is a botanical sculptor and floral designer. Her love of plants began in her grandmother’s garden, where they spent the summers picking berries, planting flowers, and climbing trees. As an adult, Sarah began growing a garden of her own, where she found healing through the beauty and friendship of flowers. She launched Manette Flower Co. in 2021.
Sarah creates installations that invite the viewer to experience beauty in an immersive, emotional, and embodied way. Drawing inspiration from the Japanese art form of Ikebana, Sarah designs with minimal ingredients, experimenting with bold lines and shapes juxtaposed with delicate nuance, ethereal textures and graceful movement.
Sarah lives by the philosophy that beauty is both substance and sustenance for survival. The beauty offered to us by the natural world invites us to notice, awaken and beckons us toward a more vibrant life.