Shilshole Bay Marina, Seattle, Washington, USA, 2007

Groundswell expresses cultural and natural aspects of its setting, a plaza at Seattle’s Shilshole Bay Marina. Fabricated stainless steel ribs evoke boat hulls and whale skeletons, while carved basalt columns call forth waves. Water runs down etched runnels in the front faces of the ribs, adding a dimension of sound and a play of reflected sunlight that animate the piece. Forms of the fountain carry forth into planting beds in the surrounding marina plaza. 

Groundswell was commissioned by the Port of Seattle and designed in coordination with plaza design by Mithun.  The stainless steel ribs were built by Fabrication Specialties and basalt carved by Seattle Solstice.