The Trees

Location: Brookfield Place Calgary, 225 6 Avenue SW, Calgary, AB

About the work

The Trees is a composition of cast aluminum tiles crafted in response to the scale and shifting light of the James K. Gray Galleria in Brookfield Place Calgary. From afar, it appears to be a minimalist graphic drawing, but as you approach the work, the intricate textures and patterns are revealed. Each hand-finished, square metal tile contains a three-dimensional surface that shifts with the light throughout the day, creating a dynamic and responsive visual experience.

This artwork is a complement to The Forest and The Trees, also located at Brookfield Place Calgary. Both works are derived from a deeply personal source: a book of cross-stitch patterns once used by the artist’s mother. These simple embroidery charts were digitally transformed through cropping, rotation, and repetition to create complex, abstract designs. In The Trees, the forms can be read as sixteen individual compositions, as enlarged details from the companion sculpture, or even as a close-up of tree bark.

By merging personal memory with digital fabrication and architectural scale, The Trees bridges natural and manufactured worlds. It offers a quiet moment of reflection within a busy space, inviting viewers to engage with Calgary’s abundant and ever-changing natural light through surface, shadow, and form.

Aluminum tiles and bronze

About the artist

Micah Lexier is a Canadian artist known for his conceptual and often text-based work that explores themes of identity, time, language, and systems of organization. Working across sculpture, print, and installation, Lexier frequently collaborates with writers and incorporates everyday materials into his art. His practice balances precision and playfulness, often using numbers, lists, and repetition to create meaning. His art invites viewers to reflect on the passage of time, the nature of authorship, and the structures we use to make sense of the world.