In the works of extreme environmental artist John Grade, Mother Nature is always an integral part of the picture

Thanks to the thriving “post-studio” movement, artists now have free rein to move out of the studio and into their communities and the environment (whether virtual or natural). But even in this flexible context, Seattle-based sculptor John Grade continues to occupy a category of his own. If you ask the artist, his genre is something like “extreme art”—and it’s replete with all the risk and reward you’d expect from a K2 climb.

Grade’s elegant sculptures start in the studio, where he works in a variety of natural media like rubber, goat fur and resin. But it’s their relationship to—and interaction with—the environment that is meant to take center stage. Each sculpture’s installation involves a carefully engineered exposure to the elements, where rain, wind, snow, insects, birds and sea life engage with the piece in fascinating (and thoroughly unpredictable) ways. Of the process, Grade says, “The only constant is that nothing happens as I think it will. But then it’s always more interesting than I expected.”

One recent example: Host (2007-8), a graceful white ring constructed of cellulose and birdseed, was intended for an avian audience—but its first location was swarming with bugs, and its second was rife with rodents. To give the birds a chance to “sculpt” the work as he had envisioned, Grade coated its twentyfour telescoping parts with a hot pepper derivative that discouraged squirrels and rats. Apparently unfazed by the spice, birds eventually tapped a subtle texture into the sculpture as they ate. When Host was moved again, it was to the Bellevue Arts Museum, where it was part of a comprehensive exhibition of Grade’s work. This movement—in and out of the environment, the museum, and the studio—is integral to Grade’s work.

Though laden with references to 1970s-era Earthworks (including those of Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer), Grade’s work has the distinctly fluid stamp of the digital age. Ever on the move, the artist will install a pair of new projects in Seattle, Washington, and Brighton, U.K. this summer. Made from a corn-based polymer that melts in water, their multiple parts are inspired by the shells of microscopic plankton and brought together in compound groups resembling cloud formations. In each locale, rain, seawater, and no doubt a range of surprises will play a role in the sculptures’—and the artist’s—continually evolving story.

For more information, visit the artist’s website: www.johngrade.com