Upcycled Sculpture Artist's Statement
In this sculpture, a tree appears to be growing out of a biology text book about genetics. The rolled paper tubes, cut out of the same paper as which the textbook was printed on, looks as though the pages of the textbook were coiled and stacked to make a tree. The rolled papers are not all identical in size, nor are they placed in any particular pattern, following the organic nature of a tree.
The artwork focuses on form, in that it is made to take on a simplified shape of a tree. It was designed after the work of artist Lisa Nelson, who also uses variations of rolled paper to create realistic models of biological elements in the world. This specific sculpture is modeled after her "Tissue Series" which features three dimensional rolled paper sculptures of internal human anatomy,. This sculpture utilizes many of the same techniques and elements as her sculptures, even though it is not of any aspect of the human body.
My intention in creating this sculpture was to hint at the wasteful use of trees in creating books that will then be thrown out. I found this biology and genetics textbook from 2009, relatively new in condition, already in a pile ready to be discarded by the school, as the information was considered irrelevant and out of date. There is irony in that I designed the tree to look as if it is growing out of the book, when in actuality, trees were destroyed in order to create the book.
Overall, I am relatively pleased with how the sculpture came out. I was not completely happy with the shape of the tree, which came out more simplified than I had initially intended due to the large size of the paper rolls. I am pleased with the proportionality of the tree and the book though.
The artwork focuses on form, in that it is made to take on a simplified shape of a tree. It was designed after the work of artist Lisa Nelson, who also uses variations of rolled paper to create realistic models of biological elements in the world. This specific sculpture is modeled after her "Tissue Series" which features three dimensional rolled paper sculptures of internal human anatomy,. This sculpture utilizes many of the same techniques and elements as her sculptures, even though it is not of any aspect of the human body.
My intention in creating this sculpture was to hint at the wasteful use of trees in creating books that will then be thrown out. I found this biology and genetics textbook from 2009, relatively new in condition, already in a pile ready to be discarded by the school, as the information was considered irrelevant and out of date. There is irony in that I designed the tree to look as if it is growing out of the book, when in actuality, trees were destroyed in order to create the book.
Overall, I am relatively pleased with how the sculpture came out. I was not completely happy with the shape of the tree, which came out more simplified than I had initially intended due to the large size of the paper rolls. I am pleased with the proportionality of the tree and the book though.