Environmental Sculpture
This week, we were tasked with creating an environmental sculpture. An environmental sculpture is a sculpture that alters an environment and uses materials from nature. This project was inspired by the work of Andy Goldworthy, who is a sculptor, environmentalist, and photographer. Specifically, I was inspired by a series of artwork that Goldworthy completed utilizing nests of sticks. After completing my sculpture, I decided to give my work the title "From the Woods".
Click this button to take a look at some of Andy Goldworthy's pieces of art that utilize sticks:
Here is my environmental sculpture!
About my Sculpture:
I created my environmental sculpture at Rocky Knob Mountain Bike Park in Boone. I chose to create my sculpture at this park because I take the little boy that I babysit to Rocky Knob every week, and we like to hike the bike trails together. I knew that there would be a lot of great materials to work with, and beautiful scenery, and I had a relaxing and peaceful time working on my sculpture.
I dropped a pin on the approximate spot where I created my environmental sculpture, at the coordinates 36.220326, -81.627764.
My Creative Process:
Materials used: before I began to create my sculpture, I knew that I wanted to use sticks as my main material. So, when I went to Rocky Knob, the first thing that I did was collect sticks. I also collected different types of moss and lichen, as well as a few ferns, which I knew I wanted to decorate my sculpture with. Additionally, I used a small amount of twine to support the base of my sculpture. I also brought
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a pair of scissors with me to Rocky Knob to cut the twine and trim some of my sticks.
My Inspiration: As I was planning and creating my environmental sculpture, I was inspired by the shape of a dreamcatcher. As I built my sculpture and added details like moss and lichen, my sculpture began to look like what a dreamcatcher would like like it a fairy built a dreamcatcher, so I think my intentions translated into my work pretty successfully!
Challenges of this Project: The first challenge that I faced was what kind of environmental sculpture I wanted to make. Looking through Andy Goldworthy's artwork, I felt inspired, but also intimidated by how beautiful and effortless his work looks. I decided that I wanted to make something that felt like it came out of the environment where is was created, rather than being plopped down somewhere, so sticks seemed like a comfortable choice.
Another challenge that I contended with as I created my sculpture was balancing my sticks and keeping my sculpture intact. Because I was struggling to keep my sculpture together, I used twine to support a few sections of my sculpture. When I strengthened the base of my sculpture, I was able to balance the rest of my sticks between the boulder and the neighboring tree without too much frustration.
The final challenge that I worked through during the process of creating my sculpture was photographing my work. Because I used materials that blended in with the environment that I was working in, I had to put a lot of effort towards making my sculpture stand out in the photograph that I took. If I was too far from my sculpture, or if the pictures were taken from certain angles, my sculpture blended in too much to the woods that surrounded it. Even though it was pretty cool to think about how I made a piece of art that seamlessly fit in to its surroundings, I wanted to make sure that my pictures made my work stand out, which just took a little bit of time and patience.
Want something to listen to while you check out my environmental sculpture? Here you go!➞