Art Chowder January | February, Issue 25 | Page 16

Art Chowder: How has art made your life
better?
Erik:  I find being able to focus on a project
and get it done is incredibly satisfying, and
making people laugh is wonderful — like
my side table, titled Drunk Under the Table.
People really get off on something when they
can identify with it in some crazy way.  
Art has led to some of my craziest adventures
and greatest jobs.  For example, I got a five
year contract with a company in London by
initially selling them some sculptures.  While
creating a Spirit of St Louis sculpture I
started wondering what it would be like to
fly myself across the Atlantic…to retrace my
grandfather’s famous journey. Those grains
of sawdust led to a fundraising flight that
helped to jump-start the private space flight
industry.  Our adventure (which probably
should have failed) has been described in
the New York Times bestselling book, How to
Make a Spaceship: a band of renegades, an
epic race and the birth of private spaceflight.
Finally, I think art has given me a real
appreciation for nature and its crazy
variability. I love trees and am constantly
astounded by their improbable shapes and
forms, depending on the geography, altitude
and microclimate. That’s why I like to work
with the live edges, twisted roots, and the
driftwood bones of trees.
Art Chowder: If you could travel through
space/time where would you go and why?
Who would you want to meet? 
Erik: I’d like to go 200 years into the past,
and travel around the Northwest so that I
could really see the difference
between nature unspoiled by
modern technology…see the trees
and what kind of wildlife was
here. I’d like to really understand
the difference between then and now,
with the invasive species and humans
everywhere.  I would love to meet friendly
Native Americans and better understand how
they lived.
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ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE