Stickwork: Patrick Dougherty’s Remarkable Tree Sculptures
by Maria Popova
Sculptor Patrick Dougherty has an unusual medium: Trees. Yet he isn’t a traditional wood scuplptor, carving shapes into rigid trunks and branches. Rather, he weaves twigs into remarkable fluid shapes that exude the whimsy and lyricism of a Scandinavian fairy tale, blending it with architectural aesthetics and a profound respect for nature.
Stickwork is a magnificent monograph of Dougherty’s best work from the past 25 years, featuring 38 of his most stunning structures captured in lavish photographs, alongside drawings documenting his construction process and fascinating anecdotes about each site’s particularities and challenges.
Close Ties
Brahan Estate, Dingwall, Scottish Highlands, 2006 | Photographer: Fin Macrae
Paradise Gate
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA, 2001 | Photographer: Stephen Petegorsky
Cell Division
Savannah College of Art, Savannah, Georgia, 1998 | Photographer: Wayne Moore
Stand By
Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority, Raleigh, NC, 2000 | Photographer: Jerry Blow
Call of the Wind
Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA, 2002 | Photographer: Duncan Price
Childood Dreams
Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona, 2007 | Photographer: Adam Rodriguez
Hovering between landscape design, architecture, art and a living manifesto for our connection with the Earth, Dougherty’s is an uncommon talent and rare conceptual vision, captured beautifully and hauntingly in Stickwork.
Brain Pickings has a free weekly newsletter and people say it’s cool. It comes out on Sundays and offers the week’s best articles. Here’s an example. Like? Sign up.
