Tom Bradley International Terminal, post-security

Tumbleweeds is a site-specific installation that features hand-crafted, botanical sculptures manipulated from wood. Inspired by the tumbleweeds found in the northeastern part of Los Angeles County that extends into the Mojave Desert, this installation manifests artist Pontus Willfors’ ongoing investigation into nature and culture. More specifically, Willfors’ work questions our human existence in relation to the natural world by examining a paradox: are humans part of nature or separate?

Tumbleweeds have a romantic aura around them, perpetuated by Hollywood in old Western films featuring images of slow-moving bushes tumbling across wide-open roads and fields, symbols of nomadic freedom. However, the reality can be far from romantic. Massive tumbleweeds can blow across fields in strong winds and stack up against houses, sometimes as high as a two-story building, blocking in residents.

While firmly rooted in the American consciousness representing the desolate and expansive West, tumbleweeds are not native to North America. Human activity is responsible for the importation of this extremely invasive, noxious weed into the U.S. in the late 1800s. Here in Southern California, in places such as Palmdale and Lancaster, the two largest desert cities in California, tumbleweeds bump up against the urban environment as they continue their aggressive spread into neighborhoods.

For Willfors, the tumbleweed is a paradoxical object that is visually striking yet propagates devastation. While the prickly spheres are considered an agricultural nuisance and fire hazard, Willfors finds poetry in these plants. With their delicate, yet resilient, fragmented branches and rootless forms, Willfors harnesses our attention to consider connections between beauty and destruction.

Born and raised in Sweden, Pontus Willfors has lived and worked in Los Angeles since 2005. His work explores the relationship between nature and culture.

pontuswillfors.com