Sep 19 Saturday
Jim Hodges’ “Unearthed” exhibition is a monumental bronze cast of an uprooted tree stump. The truncated form resonates with majesty while also serving as a mournful reminder of humankind’s impact upon the natural world. The sculpture is suspended in stillness, suggesting what might have been above, stretching branches that had reached into the air towards the sun that once contained life in green and barky rough wildness. With this implication, and through our interaction with the sculpture, “Unearthed” opens generative thought toward relationships between environments and their communities. The work beckons us to consider fragility, ephemerality, as well as the sacredness of life.
This work-in-becoming had its first residency in San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral in 2019. Imagine that in the confines of that edifice the sculpture absorbed metaphysical power from everyday spiritual practice, from a celebration of life observed in rites of faith, musical performances, readings, by a community’s presence, participation, and social interaction. “Unearthed” has its second residency at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Washington State University, providing the academic and regional community an occasion to approach the work through intentional participation.
In time, its roots will be reunited with the ground through burial, transferring its accumulated goodwill charged with incorporeal memories and energies into the Earth. Only its severed trunk will remain visible, indicating a new role in nature.
IMAGE | Jim Hodges, Unearthed, 2015 to present
LOCATION | The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU is located in the Crimson Cube (on Wilson Road across from Martin Stadium and the CUB) on the WSU Pullman campus. Museum hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Closed Sundays, Mondays, and during University holidays and breaks.
Each year, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art presents selections from its growing permanent collection in an exhibition, offering fresh perspectives through thematic exhibitions, recent acquisitions, and curated installations.
Open August 25, 2026 through March 13, 2027, “JSMA Collects” explores the many ways artists, curators, and visitors connect with nature, place, and one another. Works on view reflect the relationships between environments and communities, while spring installations expand the conversation to themes of home, family, and everyday life, inviting reflection on the natural world and our place within it.
From its founding collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American and European paintings, the museum's holdings have grown to more than 4,000 works of art. Today, the collection spans the eighteenth century to the present and features a diverse range of regional, national, and international artists whose works illuminate the breadth and evolution of visual culture.
IMAGE | Etsuko Ichikawa, Vitrified, 2020
Sep 20 Sunday
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Sep 23 Wednesday