Artist-In-Residence: Ian Coble

Saturday, March 12, 2022 was the opening night of Ian Coble’s “Life Cycle”, a photographic exploration of the forces and events that shape trees over time. We are absolutely beside ourselves to have had the opportunity to host the debut of this incredible collection here in Ballard at Assembly.

“Each piece in the collection is a photographic print of a sustainably harvested tree round from the Pacific Coast (CA to WA). Once harvested and prepped the rounds were then photographed in a mobile studio and inverted in post production for added detail and contrast. All of the pieces have been printed at true scale to show the most accurate representation of the size and complexity of each tree. As you dig into the intricacies of the rings, one can see how its growth was influenced by external forces like wind, rain, drought, neighboring trees, fire, insects and terrain. The trees morph as they grow to adapt to the world around them.”

This idea originally sprouted from a Birthday present I made for my girlfriend. Her home had a grove of Cedars that had to be cut down due to an insect infestation. After their removal, all that was left was a handful of small stumps. I wanted to try and capture something of the trees, that had been there, so they could live on in her home.

I’ve been an outdoorsy person since I was a kid. I moved from California to Washington as soon as I graduated high school so that I could spend more time outdoors. So preserving something from nature was the main connection I wanted to make. Eventually, I got into photography as a career in order to earn a living and spend as much time as possible in nature. In a way, many of my life choices have been based on my love of nature and being outside.

In a way, many of my life choices have been based on my love of nature and being outside.

Finally, after a lot of experimentation, I found that the best way to achieve the look I was after, was to cut a thin cross-section of the stump and then plane and sand it down to a super smooth surface. From there, I built a mobile studio and shot a series of photos of the round with studio lights. After the photos were taken, I worked with my print lab on the best way to present the prints. We worked through around 6 styles of paper and finally landed on the German Etching/ Wood Pulp Paper that the entire collection was printed on.

As an outdoor photographer, I’m always adapting how and what I take pictures of based on the same factors that determine a tree’s shape and form. During the last few years of uncertainty in all of our collective personal and public lives, I have deeply thought about the outside factors that have influenced the shape of my life internally and externally and discovered a great amount of understanding and kinship in seeing the full life cycle of trees.

A portion of the proceeds from this show will go to outdoors charities so more people can experience and learn from the knowledge gained through trees.

The evening and the collection benefited Washington National Parks Fund with beverages from Leavenworth’s Icicle Brewing, Woodinville Whiskey. The exhibition will be up for the month of March and available to show by appointment and on Tuesdays 9-5pm. Please email hello@assemblyseattle.com for questions.