The following is a description of the sculpture Dream of the River God, provided by the City of Richmond.
Title: Dream of the River God
Artist: Glen Andersen
This work was funded by Oris Development Corp. and was donated, and ownership transferred, to the city.
Artist Statement: Designed and built to resemble an archaic relic, Dream of the River God is a surrealist folly, wherein a full-size fishing boat “skeleton” is visually married to a salmon backbone. It conjures the primeval and the not-so-distant industrial pasts of its riverside setting and conflates them into a vision akin to what might have been witnessed by the unseen spirit of the river itself.
Much art and history about Steveston valourizes human activities, while the ancient mystery of the salmon themselves is underrepresented. Thus salmon vertebrae form the keel.
The general site was occupied by boat-builders (Japanese-owned, 1950-1976), fish-packers, and fishermen, whose activities were essentially built on the backs of the salmon migrating upriver.
Boat scale and profile are modeled after a 1951 West Coast trawler of the type built nearby.
The half-built vessel also references the fact that many Japanese boat builders had to abandon their projects in 1942 prior to their expulsion/internment.
It is meant to be an interactive work, and viewers of all ages are encouraged to climb it, much as one might do upon discovering a gigantic whale skeleton, or an old boat.
Glen Andersen has been project coordinator, designer, sculptor and maker of mosaics for public spaces since 1995. The Richmond resident works with other designers, community groups, schools, private clients, youth, contractors and civic officials to create public and community art projects.
