Bending Branch Living Sculpture

Today we visited upcountry to get some produce at the farmer's market. There were lots of vegetables and beautiful flowers. Then we headed over to the Hui No`eau Visual Arts Center where they were having a black and white photography exhibit, but what really caught my attention was the "Bending Sticks Living Sculptures", built by Patrick Dougherty.

Combining carpentry skills with a love of nature, North Carolina-based Patrick Dougherty began learning about primitive building techniques and experimenting with tree saplings as construction material in 1980. Small works and single pieces on conventional pedestals soon grew into monumental site-specific installations that required sticks by the truckload.

To date Patrick has built over 200 such massive sculptures all over the world and received numerous awards, including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and NEA Fellowship. Princeton Architectural Press published a major survey of Patrick and his work in a 2009 book entitled Stickwork. You can read more HERE!!!

*This Stickwork sculpture was created primarily with strawberry guava (along with eucalyptus and white ash). According to the Maui Invasive Species Committee (MISC), strawberry guava is one of the most damaging invasive plants in the state, having no natural enemies or competitors in all of Hawai'i. The 10-30 foot tall trees leave a sea of red fruits and seeds that are ingested by birds, boar and other animals and dispersed throughout forest areas. It forms dense thickets replacing native Hawaiian plants, and damages the watershed services that diverse forests provide. Its spread over thousands of acres is said to be beyond the possibility of control by existing methods. The only hope for slowing down the destructive ave of strawberry guava is to introduce a natural predator to reduce the vigor of the plant in Hawai'i.

To see my other photos from today, CLICK HERE!!!