Organic Forms & Sculpture

1. Organic Forms & Sculpture

2. Definition of Organic art…. • Form and shape can also be described as either organic or geometric. Organic forms are irregular in outline, contain curves and often asymmetrical. Organic forms are most often thought of as naturally occurring. Organic forms are found in nature in: • The human form. • Animal and insect forms. • Natural formations such as trees, flowers, rocks, rivers, lakes, bushes, mountains, hills, etc… • Microscopic forms such as cells and bacteria.

3. Organic VS Angular/Geometric

4. What are Organic Materials • Wood- twigs, branches, bark, stumps • Leaves • Flowers • Dirt, mud, sand • Tea, coffee • Feathers, hair • Water • Oils • Rice, beans, granola, pasta, seeds • Rocks • Fish printing • 100% cotton, burlap, woven hemp • Fruit and veggie , also for printing • The human body • Twine, jute • Shells

5. Some artists who work with organic materials and/or forms

6. Patrick Dougherty • http://www.stickwork.net/installations.php • He combines his carpentry skills with his love of natureusing primitive techniques of building with tree saplings as construction material. • He began to use these materials in 1980 with small works, then moved onto monumental site-specific installations that require sticks by the truckload.

7. Henry Moore • http://www.henrymoore.com/ • Henry Moore (1898 - 1986) is perhaps the most influential public sculptor of this century. Drawing on his studies of Classical, pre-Columbian and African art, Moore created original and truly modern sculptural forms. Abstractions of organic shapes were his primary motif. His seated, standing, and reclining figures comprise an enduring vocabulary reflecting the universality of the human condition.

8. Magdalena Abakanowicz • http://www.abakanowicz.art.pl/ • http://www.abakanowicz.art.pl/about/-about.php • (born 1930, in Poland). • Use of textiles as a sculptural medium. • In 1967, she began producing gigantic 3D fiber works called Abakans. • During the 1970s and 1980s, she changed medium and scale and began a series of figurative and non-figurative sculptures made out of pieces of coarse sackcloth which she sewed and pieced together and bonded with synthetic resins. • In the late 1980s on she began to use bronze, as well as wood, stone, and clay. She continued the subject matter of human condition.

9. Andy Goldsworthy • Born in 1956 in Cheshire, England • Uses snow, ice, leaves, bark, rock, clay, stones, feathers petals, twigs… • His sculptures are created in nature and are destroyed by nature. Before they fall apart he documents them with high quality photographs and video.

10. Ann Weber • http://annwebersculpture.com/ • “Ann Weber’s large sculptures made from woven strips of cardboard synthesize ancient and modern, craft and high art. • Born Jackson, Michigan 1950

11. Kiki Smith • http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/kiki-smith • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiki_Smith • Born 1954, in Nuremberg, Germany. • An American feminist artist. • Often works with images of the figure with political, erotic, and social significance. • She often works with the theme of fertility, Catholic allusions, and issues with AIDS, gender, race and battered women.

12. Nick Cave • American fabric sculptor, dancer, artist. • Teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. • Creates wearable sound suits. • Check out his exhibition of wearable horse sound suits! Amazing!

13. Steve Tobin • http://www.arboretum.umn.edu/abouttobin.aspx • Has been referred to as a "visual philosopher”. • Based in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania. • Works in glass, clay, bronze and steel. Explores natural forms and cites nature as his earliest influence. • http://www.artnet.com/artists/steve-tobin/ • http://www.patriciagoodrich.com/tobin.html • http://www.artknowledgenews.com/Trinity_Root_Memorial.html

14. Antoni Gaudi • 1852- 1926 Spanish architect • Mostly worked in Barcelona. • His Naturalist works are very organic in form.

15. Deborah Butterfield • Born 1949. • An American sculptor. • Known for her sculptures of horses made from found objects, like metal, and especially pieces of wood.

16. Helen Altman • Texas based artist. • Her skull sculptures are symbols of death made with organic materials such as spices, plants, and flowers. • They are designed to be hung from the wall with metal hooks, appearing as if they were trophies or prizes

17. Ernesto Neto • http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/ernesto-neto?before=1311642917 • Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1964. • His installations are large, soft, biomorphic sculptures that fill an exhibition space that viewers can touch, poke, and even walk on or through. • Made of white, stretchy, stocking-like material -- amorphous forms stuffed with Styrofoam pellets or spices. • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernesto_Neto