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Totem V by George Morrison
Photo CreditPhoto courtesy of McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc.
Totem V
Photo CreditPhoto courtesy of McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc.

Totem V

Artist
Year1980
Classification sculpture
Medium stained cedar wood
Dimensions192 x 20 x 20 in. (487.7 x 50.8 x 50.8 cm)
Credits Commissioned through the Art in Architecture Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Location


  • "Totem V" is one of a series of totem poles George Morrison created during the late 1970s and early 1980s.  Located inside the Federal Building in Sandpoint, Idaho, "Totem V" merges Morrison's cultural heritage as a Native American with the forms of European-American art.



    Both the size and color of "Totem V" command attention.  Standing 16' tall, the rectangular wood column is stained red, a reference to the Earth's color.  While the artist's use of red serves an aesthetic purpose, his choice to make this connection with the Earth is also characteristic of Native American culture.  His interest in the "totem pole" was inspired by his background, as well as by the carved cedar poles of the Northwest Coast area and Australian aboriginal "chiringa." 



    The individual, interlocking wood pieces exemplify Abstract Expressionist sculpture.  While using the vocabulary of modern art, Morrison incorporates a personal element-a horizontal line-into the composition of fluid, organic shapes.  The horizontal line represents the importance of the sky, water, and land in his childhood memories of growing up near Lake Superior.



    With "Totem V," George Morrison created a sculpture that is simultaneously modern and


    traditional and whose meaning speaks to Native American culture while also carrying personal significance.