environmental

Art may respond to social or environmental events or universal shapes may reappear as influences. Working outdoors can be challenging since ocean currents, wind, rain, the configuration of terrain, and other factors affect the outcome. Light is always shifting, changing colors. When possible, viewer interaction is a consideration, which also has an effect.

mama says

Mama Says, steel, plastic water pipe, found objects, paint, 97" x 96" x 96" / 246 x 243 x 243 cm, 2005. Outdoor Sculpture at Maudslay State Park.
photos: Egils Zarins

When we became involved in an unjustified war I wondered what effect the mother of our leader might have had when he was a child to sway him away from making such moral mistakes. Might a mother have such power? So I asked people, "What is the most significant thing your mother said to you as you were growing up?" Their responses are carved into and written on elements of this walk-in installation.

A detail of Mama Says showing the quotations about mothers written on the mylar.

The top of Mama says, painted black and sky blue, showing part of the big plastic water pipe topped by a vent fan high above head height.

meanders

Two parallel 8 foot tall side walls of white fabric make a 20 foot long pathway suggesting fog on the river. My silhouette shows the scale. The sides are held together by bridge-like forms at either end.

Meanders, steel rod, gardener's fabric, paint, 108" x 264" x 72" / 2.7 x 6.7 x 1.8 m, 2000. Outdoor Sculpture at Maudslay, Newburyport, MA. photo: Bert Snow

This installation involves a 22 foot long path with side walls that shift in the slightest wind. Viewers walk through the installation which curves and is open to the sky above. The side walls gently float and a poetic line of text is painted in white onto the white fabric.

The footprint of Meanders is based on the course of the Merrimack River between the Rocks Village Bridge and the Chain Bridge. This installation refers to a kayak excursion on the river amid ice floes one warm January day. The water was black; the ice in huge slabs slid across its surface. When we got to where Maudslay is, the cooler air beneath the trees generated fog which rolled down the bank toward us. At that moment water existed around us in all three states: liquid, solid and gas. It was remarkable.

global forces spiral

aerial photograph of thirty sea keayakers making a spiral on the bay near a huge stone spiral by the Seacoast Sicience Center in NH to suggest global ocean gyres.

Global Forces Spiral, Stone spiral - 30' x 30' / 9.1 x 9.1 m, shoreline, 30 sea kayakers, dimensions variable, 1995. Seacoast Science Center, Rye, NH.
Aerial photo: Bill Hoyt. Other photos: Egils Zarins

Global Forces Spiral was a three-day art event funded by the New Hampshire State Council for the Arts. The objective was to link art and science through the use of a symbolic representation of world-wide ocean currents. This symbol was a clockwise spiral representing the general flow of currents North of the Equator, the coastline to suggest the Equator, and a counter-clockwise spiral reminiscent of the flow of currents South of the Equator. I hired a cairn sculptor, Mark Ragonese, and we worked with fifty-two summer camp kids and their counselors to build the stone spiral. There were also vertical banners at the cardinal points, an exhibit of spirals in art and nature, amazing rock cairns by the water's edge, and a short performance. On the third day I lead thirty sea kayakers, with the help of John Halloran of Adventure Learning, into the form of a spiral on the bay using the banners to mark the location of the stone spiral. It was an ephemeral, yet effective, symbolic event.

The stone spiral and one of the four cardinal points banners the kayakers used to locate the spiral.

Eight of the sea kayakers in their boats forming the spiral on the bay.

spiral bower

In the forest a spiral shaped enclosure with walls of leaves, sticks and pinecones arranged in a tribal pattern. Small white cushoins are inside.

Spiral Bower, leaves, sticks, feathers, pinecones, bird netting, steel rod, 48" x 120" x 120" / 122 x 305 x 305 cm, 2000. Outdoor Sculpture at Maudslay, Newburyport, MA. photo: Egils Zarins

skywater

In a field surrounded by green forest, a ring of ovate mirrors reflect the sky suggesting pools of water.

Skywater, mirror, wood, found objects, 8' x 8' / 2.4 x 2.4 m, 1997. Parker River Festival Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit, Newbury, Ma,. photo: Egils Zarins

kinetic forces cycle

Twisted organically shaped steel ribbons arranged in a circle on the lawn of a sculpture venue.

Kinetic Forces Cycle, steel, 8' x 8' x 1' / 244 x 244 x 30.5 cm, 2002. Millbrook Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Concord, NH,. photo: Egils Zarins

SOWA triad

Three installations in a Boston building being rehabbed. Top: a spiral of white plastic cups on the grey floor. Center, a rectangle of old wooden tables echoing Richard Serra's art. Bottom: a ring of white origami songbirds on the grey floor.

SoWa Triad, Top: 100 Cup Spiral, 100 plastic drinking cups, 14' x 10' / 4.27 x 3m, Center: Serraesque Rectangle, 6 wooden tables (in reference to Richard Serra's leaning steel slab pieces), 12' x 8' x 2.5' / 3.7 x 2.4 x .7 m,, Bottom: Bird Circle, 16 Origami songbirds, 10' / 3m diameter, 2006. Shown at 500 Harrison Ave., Boston, courtesy of GTI Properties, Inc.. photos: Egils Zarins

This installation solved a problem. Many people came to the SOWA Artwalk, where dozens of artists had set up their offerings in a huge unfinished building, however most did not venture far in. What would attract them? Using what was on hand I made references to nature, geometry, and to Richard Serra's work. And helped adults and kids make their own origami birds. As a result, I sold sculpture .

striving for the aerie

Aerial view of a maze cut into a field near a row of trees and a pathway. The mowing pattern of the field around the maze.

Striving for the Aerie, maze cut in meadow, 40' x 40' / 12.2 x 12.2 m, 2001. Outdoor Sculpture at Maudslay, Newburyport, MA
aerial photo: Dick Hordon

When working in nature I tread lightly, to leave no permanent effects.

environmental

home

3D

2D

bio

contact