I have a vague memory of being somewhere in Western Massachusetts looking at colleges and walking right into a Patrick Dougherty installation. I have no idea if this is actually true or if in my dreams somewhere there was an amazing sculptor using saplings as construction material but Patrick’s work exists either way.
Above, The Summer Palace, is at the Morris Arboretum at the Univ. of Pennsylvania. I love that it looks like a cloud, or smoke, or a turban.
A totally different type of biological work from what I’m normalling into – Cell Division – on a building at the Savannah College of Art.
I wish I had seen this in person in New York at the American Craft Museum – Crossing Over – I love how he’s able to make the saplings appear so whimsical.
Patrick’s work has been created all over the US, Europe and Asia and he’s built over 150 of these structures or works. I’m not sure what to call them exactly.
I’ve been thinking lately about the consumptive qualities of fibers – that’s been heightened by my recent foray back into felting as it’s ability to shrink and bind is pretty impressive. I like how, in the piece above, Patrick’s saplings have consumed part of the building. This one also evoked a memory of The Wizard of Oz and a tornado sucking the house up into the sky!
Call of the Wild from the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA.
Tags: 3D, inspired by nature, installation, nature, outdoor, sticks, structures, twig art, wood
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