Pining, a young woman
made of painted plaster leaning into a pine tree.
Her hair is a mass of real pine cones.
I created six sculpture installations integrated
into a nature trail at Boca Ciega Millennium
Park, in Seminole, Florida. The imagery and
placement
of the sculptures are designed to raise awareness
about
the effects of human impact on the natural environment.
The sculptures are made mostly of plaster, and
will gradually change and erode over time.
A book and
video are being made to document these changes,
and to give the entire project an “afterlife.” The
sculptures were completed for the park’s
annual Discovery Day and Nature Festival on March
3, 2007.
As the park’s “Artist-in-Residence,” I
am further involving the community by giving
guided walks and sculpture workshops throughout
the year.
This project was commissioned by Pinellas County
Cultural Affairs, with a budget of $30,000.
The
sculptures are visible from the boardwalk trail,
but not obviously. Park visitors have
fun searching
for the art, and during that process they are
looking more carefully at everything around them.
The accessibility
and contrast of seeing art in a natural setting,
rather than in a museum or gallery, is a draw
in itself – a mystery in the forest that
one can walk up to and touch. Printed maps indicating
the
sculpture locations with information about the
project are available at the trail. The sculptures
represent
imaginary beings that reflect and integrate two
worlds – the
constructed world that humans live in, and the
natural world inhabited by the flora and fauna
of the park.
Already these art sightings have instigated discussion
and reflection on our connection to the precious
natural life around us.
Another evocation is the
idea of metamorphosis and the power of change.
Much of the imagery
in my work
has origins in ancient art, as well as myths
and tales of different cultures, such as Ovid’s
Metamorphoses or Native American legends of talking
animals and earth spirits. Now this 3/4 mile
trail is simultaneously a land of imagination
within
the real land of native Florida plant and wild
life.