Échappée depicts a stylized Pagoda Dogwood tree, commissioned as a permanent installation for the lobby of the new Compton Hotel, a boutique hotel in Bentonville, Arkansas. It is a tribute to the magnificence of the Ozarks’ wild landscapes and highlights the need to protect these distinctive environments. Echoing the building’s Frank Lloyd Wright–inspired design—which blurs the line between in-doors and outdoors—Riehl’s piece extends this dialogue, gesturing to the outside to connect with the surrounding scenery and vegetation. Inspired by French painter Theodore Rousseau’s tree portraits, Échappée evokes the peculiar plateau landscapes of Arkansas. Typical of the Pagoda Dogwood structure, one of the local “champion trees”, the horizontal branches on the upper right of the installation conjure the Ozark scenery. In the 19th century, Rousseau’s work began the conversation for forest conservancy, which, more than one hundred years later, echoes the actions of Dr Compton, a local environmentalist. The French name Échappée designates the view over the horizon and over the landscape, but it also means a getaway, an escape. Drawing from the Ozark mountains, Riehl chose earth and rock tones for the color palette to contrast with the white porcelain, while soft browns recall the Pagoda

Dogwood’s autumn leaves. The density of branches and leaves creates a unique visual effect on the wall. Bowing under the abundant flowering, the lower branches take an arch shape referring to the French origins of the name Ozarks: “aux arcs”.