Pollinate by Nancy Selvage (2014). The sculpture of perforated stainless steel sheets and stainless steel rods measures 4.1 feet tall by 16 feet long by 6.25 feet deep. It’s currently outside Selvage’s house but has had “summer vacations” in group exhibitions at Chesterwood in Stockbridge and at Highfield Hall in Falmouth.

Selvage supplied this background information on how the sculpture came to be:

“Pollinate evolved from working on another project called Garden for Bristol Community College in 2013. Those six sculptures metaphorically honored employees as planters nourishing growth and as plant forms in different stages of growth: sprout, bud, flower, mature foliage, fruit, and seed. Part of the annual employee recognition ceremony will include a photo opportunity for each honored employee standing next to the planter/plant form that corresponds to their length of service. Their name plaques will then be added to the rim of the corresponding planter.

“I had some material left over from Garden and used it to create two more plant forms. When these two forms were oriented horizontally (instead of in their previous vertical positions), they suggesting a probing insect and a prostrate flower — thus the title “Pollinate.” I worked with the same welder (Ron Dauplaise in New Bedford), who worked with me on the Garden sculptures. There was a design process that involved making several 1/4 scale variations out of perforated aluminum… then flattening and scanning the sections of the model to create CAD files to send to a laser-cutting company… ordering material, getting sheets to the laser cutting company… transporting the cut sheets to the welder, picking up rods, and taking them to the welder… then working with the welder to mark all of the intersections for each piece, help with the bending/flexing of each piece, and wire all the pieces together before being welded.”