Press Release
Urkiola Beech Tree – Urkiola Sanctuary in Spain
I’m honored to announce that my commission ‘Urkiola Beech Tree’ is now on view at the Urkiola Sanctuary in the Province of Vizcaya, LOCATED NEAR BILBOA AND SAN SABASTON in northern Spain. Created for the 75th Anniversary of the Bilbao Diocese, the work was blessed by Mons. Joseba Segura, Bishop of Bilbao, in an opening ceremony at Urkiola on October 6, 2024. This has been a remarkable project for me. I am including some photographs here and I hope you will have the opportunity to see the work in person.
About the Urkiola Beech Tree sculpture
Through a series of serendipitous connections, I have created a XX for the 75th Anniversary of the Bilbao Diocese that I hope captures the essence of the Basque Beech tree and gives the viewer a sense of the rejuvenation of life and its infinite possibilities. Since 2018, I have had the great fortune to experience the beech forests on horseback riding trips led by my wife, María Elena Dendaluce, which include a visit to the Urkiola Sanctuary. Five years ago, during a visit, guided by Félix Moreno, guardian of the Sanctuary, I had a brief conversation with him and after a while he stopped, looked me straight in the eyes, and said: "You will return." I was surprised by the frankness of this statement. I did not give it much importance until last year, on my sixth visit, when Félix asked me about my profession, and I replied that I was a sculptor. While we were having coffee the next day, Félix told me that he had been looking at my website the night before. Then he said: “I like your work.” If I had not been sitting, I would have fallen in surprise. He continued: “Would you consider building a sculpture for the Sanctuary?” And I nearly had a heart attack when I heard myself say: “Yes.” When Felix asked me what the work should represent, my un-hesitated answer was “a Beech tree” and he agreed. We discussed the details of the commission, and I was amazed to learn that Alfa Arte, the renowned international sculpture fabricator, was in Eibar, only an hour away.
Urkiola has an aura around it that makes the place not only special, but overwhelming and truly awesome. There are many forests in this area of mystical beech trees which were cut down at waist height for the making of charcoal for steel - the cornerstone of many Basque forms of livelihood. These trees re-sprout branches that reach straight up and when one is in the beech tree forest, they produce an atmosphere that I feel has mystical and hypnotic power and is at the same time welcoming.
It is my sincere hope that this work will give hope, joy, and inspiration to present and future Basques as well as visitors from around the world.
The Urkiola Beech Tree sculpture is made of stainless steel and fabricated entirely at Alfa Arte, in EIBAN, BASUE COUNTRY from a model the sculptor created in the United States. It is constructed from a single piece of STAINLESS steel, 3mts high, and weighs approximately 400kg.
Photographer credit: José Luis López de Zubiria