Masayuki Nagase selected basalt in a Washington quarry for his OSU-Cascades installation. (Submitted photo)

Nature’s ability to create form — and destroy it — inspires stone sculptor Masayuki “Yuki” Nagase in his artwork. Included among the Bay Area artist’s public art installations are a trio of sculptures placed around the Oregon State University-Cascades campus and funded by the Oregon Arts Commission’s Percent for Art program.

Nagase will be on hand Tuesday morning at Tykeson Hall on the Bend campus for a reception in honor of the sculptor and his basalt works, installed last December. Nagase will discuss his inspiration for the works, his process in creating them and the importance of public art.

Nagase said that after receiving and expressing interest in the call for artists, he became one of three semi-finalists for the commissioned project. The Japan-born artist came up from his Bay Area home to visit the Bend campus in spring 2017 before submitting his proposal.

“It’s very nice,” he said. “My impression was they kept this nice local landscape in campus and built three really high-tech buildings. Yeah, I saw it’s a wonderful place.”

While his eventual idea didn’t occur immediately, he did spot the raw material he’d eventually use as he strolled around the area and found basalt rocks.

“I realized this is a native material, so then I got the idea, ‘Oh, I should use this same type of material,’” he said. He later landed on the idea of capturing the movement and forces of wind and water.

“I thought it was quite appropriate to use a metaphor of the energy of wind and water as our experience of learning,” Nagase said.

Situated in front of Tykeson Hall, Element A is made up of three pieces, a small polished boulder and two basalt columns, one upright and one horizontal, carved with relief patterns. Its river theme was inspired by the nearby Deschutes River.

Element B, found near the Residence Hall, is based on the theme of wind. Its three 10-foot high, vertical basalt columns connote upward movement and the energy of wind. Reliefs are carved into their interior faces, which face one another.

Finally, Element C is made up of six components. Two polished boulders near Chandler Avenue, and four 18-inch high seating sculptures alongside the concrete path between Chandler and the Dining/Academic building. Each of the four is etched with words of wisdom from OSU students and one academic, though none give attribution. A sample: “Tackle every aspect of life in a way that will lead to positive change. Be open minded, form meaningful connections to your community. Spread the story, love, and togetherness our world needs.”

Though located around different sites on campus, the three elements are intended to be taken together as a whole. The Oregon Arts Commission administers the Percent for Art program, which places mostly permanent art in public places — some 2,400 works around Oregon, according to its website. The Percent for Art funding also afforded the purchase of a number of pieces of existing art at OSU-Cascades, it should be up on the walls of Tykeson and Obsidian Halls in time for viewing at the Art Installation Celebration, according to Christine Coffin, director of communications.

OSU-Cascades’ Percent for Art Committee, made up of members of the art community and OSU-Cascades faculty and a representative from BORA, the architectural firm that designed Tykeson Hall, selected works by artists including James Lavadour, Christian Brown, Pat Clark, Ka’ila Farrell-Smith, Samantha Wall and Melanie Yazzie.

“These public works of art — both Yuki Nagase’s amazing sculptures and the vibrant existing works — will bring even more cultural relevance to the campus and add to its offerings in the arts and humanities,” Coffin said. “We welcome community members to come and see and enjoy the works.”