Participating Artists: Barbara De Pirro Miguel Edwards Aaron Haba Meredith Hall and Vaughn Bell Todd Lawson Julie Lindell Peppé Stephen Rock Gerry Stecca Kristin Tollefson Sylwia Tur Sponsored by: Center on Contemporary Art Carkeek Park Advisory Council Seattle Parks and Recreation Associated Recreational Council Department of Neighborhoods Supported by: Seattle Weekly Piper's Creek Nursery Hardware Sales, Bellingham, WA Ballard Hardware Ballard Sheet Metal		Site 10: Aaron Haba Camano Island, Washington www.habadesign.com About the Artist: born 1967, New Brunswick, NJ Surrounded by a family of teachers and artists, he enjoyed early introductions to a wide range of cultural experiences in New York City - museum exhibitions, gallery openings, and poetry readings. The summers he spent with his extended family around and on Camano Island deepened his feeling for the natural beauty of the whole Puget Sound region. His experiences in these two worlds led directly to the large earth castings and public art he has been exhibiting throughout the country. Educated at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT and UC Berkeley, he enjoyed being surrounded by challenging ideas and people from diverse cultures. Travel in Asia and Europe further strengthened his commitment to embrace humanity and the natural world through art. He has for the last several years been working out of the studio on Camano Island that he shares with his wife, painter Elizabeth Haba. Now settled in an environment that allows him to explore in depth the aesthetic and material possibilities that have fascinated him throughout his career, he enjoys finding new ways to express his feeling for the beauty of the natural world through the pieces he creates. Artist's Statement: ALTO For many years I have been interested in making sculptural pieces that could be looked through, pieces built around a window that framed the surrounding world. Like its many predecessors, Alto radiates from that framing void. In its generative power, this void reminds me of the heavens that surround us, both physical and spiritual.In response to the conception underlying this exhibition, I chose to work with rope, stalks of ocean-spray (holodiscus), and twine. The enclosing manilla rope allowed me to express the energy and tension within the armature, which is constructed of ocean-spray stalks bent around a jig in layers and then lashed together with twine. Thousands of knots hold the armature together and 1,800 ft. of rope firmly binds the inner armature to create the void essential to this piece. Each step of the process - from gathering materials through the various stages of assembly ? was slow and meditative, echoing traditional construction methods of the native peoples who lived on and with this land for thousands of years. Creating Alto for this exhibition offered me the chance to immerse myself in the materials and rhythms of the living/breathing world that I revere. I would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous help in making this piece possible: Adam & Dana Barton Jessica Barton Mary Benton Mark Boucher Alexander Chee Jim & Erica Haba Maureen McNamara & John Haba Sara Fisher Heller Janet Mayer Scott McDade Timothy Orr Roger Ragusa Hardware Sales, Bellingham, WA