Marin artist Niles Wertz has always seen trees not simply as materials, but as living archives—repositories of time, environment and possibility.
That sensibility is on full display in California Grown, a new exhibition that opened recently at Corner Shop, located within the Sausalito Center for the Arts.
Wertz’s practice centers on wood-turning, but his approach extends well beyond craft. Each piece begins with a whole tree—or a fragment of one—and an attentiveness to its form, grain and inherent character.
“Exploring a tree’s life through its form, grain and innate quality is where it starts,” Wertz said in a statement, describing a process rooted as much in observation as transformation.
The resulting works—bowls, platters, furnishings and sculptural forms—are shaped on a lathe, carved as the wood spins, revealing striking variations in hue and texture that developed over decades of growth.
Roots, branches and even wood deemed “unusable” are embraced. For Wertz, gnarled or irregular material often holds the greatest possibility. “There is a bounty of potential,” he notes, underscoring his belief that nearly any tree can yield a functional and dignified object for the home.
All of the works in California Grown are made from salvaged Bay Area wood. Wertz collaborates with Arborica, a Marin-based sawmill specializing in reclaimed trees that would otherwise be chipped or discarded. Species represented in the exhibition reflect the region’s urban and rural canopy, including bay laurel, sycamore, redwood, walnut and coast live oak, offering a quiet portrait of Northern California’s living landscape.
Wertz’s perspective is informed by a background in architecture and forestry studies at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he developed a deeper understanding of California’s ecosystems and the central role trees play in both forested and urban environments. Add to that experience Wertz’s youth—growing up in Marin’s rich craft community, further encouraging him to explore the intersection of art, design and nature—and his metier as a woodworking artist seems inevitable.
“My effort is to demonstrate the beauty and viability of all species of trees growing here in California,” Wertz says, a mission that resonates throughout the exhibition, which is curated by Jennifer Wechsler.
California Grown runs now through Jan. 25 at Corner Shop SCA, 750 Bridgeway, Sausalito.
