Gabe Babcock

Light on black Reflects in white

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Materials: Basalt, Cedar, Steel

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Minimalism at its finest. Outside, a nest, inside a perfect empty bowl to fill with poems. No road, no power, nothing; just a haven to hike to, hide from the wind and watch the birds do what they have done, long before Sisyphus picked up his stone. On an average day Sand Hill Cranes are dancing in the marsh, Tundra Swans pass high above, and a Kestrel will perch over your head. On a good day a Golden Eagle will soar below the aerie while a rainbow bends over Mt. Shasta........................humbling.

Materials: Madrone sticks, Cedar, Chinkapin Flooring, Glass

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The Oakland hills once had a pocket of old growth redwoods.  Here is what is left and what has become of them. This glass “stump” is 11 feet in diameter with growth rings etched by hand with a dremel. It is 566 years old! The buildings are Redwood blocks I found in a burn pile, hollowed out, sanded and cut windows in. Some of the ancient Redwoods were preserved, and some, like Oakland’s, were cut to build our cities.

Materials: Glass, Redwood, LED's, Steel

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Words bestowed to a young black boy by his father at an Oakland middle school.  On my way through Oakland heading home that afternoon, I passed another boy on a bike with a huge grin on his face; in his backpack was a fishing pole.

Materials: Stones, glass, copper wire, driftwood

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Designed to pay homage to Celio Falls, a Native American historical fishing site that was silenced by the dam just up stream of this site.

Materials: Cedar, Basalt, Steel

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Tethered to concrete and a bent railroad rail, the 3 foot diameter basalt sphere is polished, cracked, and patched with concrete to represent natural wholeness and the process it has undergone to comfort and fulfill our needs.  Beautiful, yet controlled . . . by industry.

Material: Basalt, Concrete, Steel

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Using 100 panes of salvaged tempered glass as tangrams, I designed and constructed this garden house to incorporate all but one pane.  The glass enhances all of Oregon’s elements creating a romantic “outdoor” room. Complete with a homey cedar scent and the warmth of a woodstove, this space is designed for year-round enjoyment.

Materials: Glass, Cedar, Brick

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If a cake represents the wedding reception, then the arbor is the frosting of the ceremony.  These site-specific arbors create a unique and memorable scene for the newly wedded couple.  Using the grounded materials of the surrounding Nature these arbors are built with a lightness that takes flight, serving as a passage for the newlyweds lives together.

Flight of Love - Redwood, Rice Paper

Ring of Vows - Steam bent White Oak

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Using found stones; this outdoor room was created for suggestive separation in a cul-de-sac.   The white cement walls illuminate the day’s shadows while the rock garden provides a slow entrance to a barn house to slow the viewer down and encourage contemplation.

Materials: Stone, Cedar, Cement, bamboo

On Exhibit at The Oregon Gardens

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A 400-pound rock suspended over bedrock by a wooden post embedded in concrete.  Though stable, it creates an omnipresent tension between what is natural and man-made.

Materials: Concrete, Cedar, Cable, Basalt

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This series consists of madrone sticks.  Inspired by their human limb-like curves I’ve pieced them together to create this dialogue between humans and nature.  Playful, musical, and simple.  Fit for a photographer of tree’s studio and the outdoors to endure the elements and decay…

Materials: Madrone Sticks

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If a flower's blossom represent the nature of things, impermanence, then this is meant to question control and necessity of things, in the same realm of fragility.

Materials: Cedar, Basalt, Steel

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Walking through the woods and leaving behind a trail of bent grass and snapped limbs I went looking for a river still wild and untouched. What I found was the veins of the hills where water flows between bedrock carved by time... And, humans attempt to play God by cabling rocks and logs together to create fish habitat.  But time and water make us look silly.  The river moves and shifts over the years leaving cabled boulders and logs in places where they look unnatural and funny.  In one place a rock is just hanging from a log by a cable above the river...

Materials: Basalt, Cedar, Cable, Steel

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A commissioned wedding arbor...simple, elegant, light. Utilizing the local wood.  Framing the mountain western Oregonites call home. 

Materials:

Steam bent white oak.