René LeBel, Forests and foundations (FURNITURE 2025)

Photos:

René LeBel

Country

Canada

During the summer of 2024 a wildfire complex converged on the town of Jasper, Alberta, Canada. Approximated a third of the towns structures were lost and 32 700 hectares of forest were burnt. Jasper is approximately 300km from the town where I live, but we share a kinship in that we are both small towns set in a valley among mountains, surrounded by large forested wilderness parks and have a tourism based economy. As such, seeing the devastation of the fire hit very close to home for me and the rest of the community. This table came about as a result of seeing the images of the aftermath of the fire and reflecting on the impacts. Naturally after witnessing that destruction, it seemed appropriate to make this piece from left over wood and off-cuts as a form of rebirth and renewal.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.