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The intensity of that moment and the awe he felt is what Gloag tries to create in his work, driftwood sculptures of life-size grizzlies, wolves and ravens that are grounded, said Gloag, in “reverence for nature.”

Now, on a rocky bluff in a semi-secret B.C. location, Gloag has drawn, seemingly from the earth itself, a stunning full-size sculpture of an American mastodon.

Gloag created the sculpture in a remote, but reasonably accessible, location where wanderers or seekers would come upon it, perhaps by accident, and have an encounter with a beast that became extinct some 12,000 years ago.

The idea of building a mastodon and embedding it in a natural setting where it could exist, and eventually decompose and return to the earth, had long floated in Gloag’s imagination. “If I didn’t create it, I was never going to stop thinking about it.”

Gloag, who become fascinated by the extinct American mastodon during his biology studies, said he feels connected to the mastodon as a powerful symbol of what could be lost through the impact of climate change and human destruction.

“I wanted to have that moment of seeing it in the wild, and I wanted other people to have that moment to see something that is long past and perhaps reflect upon the impact humans are having right now.”

The endeavour took five long, rain-soaked months earlier this year. “It felt crazy at times,” said Gloag.

He started in December 2016, carrying about 2,000 pounds of driftwood, in 100-pound lots, to the location, one backpack full at a time. When he lost heart at one point, a couple of friends stepped up to help him haul — but most days it was just him and his dog, Sola.