Black swans are represented as symbols of love, inner beauty, prosperity, grace, and trust across traditions. They have been and remain a significant animal for Tasmanian Aboriginal people as a food source and story teller for tens of thousands of years.
The Black Swan Theory is one that refers to a seemingly unpredictable event— one with widespread and unexpected ramifications. It was given its name in a time when the black-feathered bird was thought to only exist in stories in Europe. It is safe to say that Covid-19 and the year that followed was a Black Swan event. Events like these shake our foundation and cause us to look inward, to extend our hearts outward, to reflect on what we do have with more gratitude than we knew possible. Master Blacksmith, Pete Mattila, is creating an imposing, larger-than-life unique Black Swan sculpture especially for ECHO Festival.
Pete Mattila
Trained as an industrial blacksmith and welder, Pete Mattila’s work celebrates complex histories, in art, craft and design as well as in industrial expression.
“The Meaning of the pieces I produce is, for me, inextricably entwined with process, material, physical engagement, and technical ability. It is only through open-ended activity that new works can emerge. The way I view my work is like a continuous thread in a larger fabric. I am a maker; what I am making is new to me. I am not viewing it from the outside, I am viewing it from the inside. My conceptual framework comes from that act of doing, making, thinking. I make objects out of steel. Each new moment emerges from its history and could not be arrived at without it. In this way, the object is
continually emerging. To me, they are not resolved static things: within each is a growth of understanding.”
continually emerging. To me, they are not resolved static things: within each is a growth of understanding.”
—Pete Mattila
