Barbara Osborne
My work honors both the rocks and trees they are made of, and explores shapes I find or imagine.
My process is to see or think of a shape, then experiment with materials to create that shape, or until the materials suggest something else.
My influences are as disparate as the essays of Ursula LeGuin, Japanese Deco artists, teachers I have studied with, and patterns I see in city skylines, tree branches or woven rugs.
I cut, shape and finish rock slices; gather and treat pine needles, construct shapes and negative space. The natural materials and the shapes tell stories: 50 years of growth or 50 million years of weather, suggestions of form or function, what the materials and shapes have witnessed, carried or contained.
In some ways, my process is engineering as much as art; the pine needle coils turn corners, create shadow, are layered and stacked. Translucent agate pieces incorporate more light; suspending rocks with coils adds the element of gravity. I am engaged in a sculptural exploration of what pine needles and rock slices can do.
My work honors both the rocks and trees they are made of, and explores shapes I find or imagine.
My process is to see or think of a shape, then experiment with materials to create that shape, or until the materials suggest something else.
My influences are as disparate as the essays of Ursula LeGuin, Japanese Deco artists, teachers I have studied with, and patterns I see in city skylines, tree branches or woven rugs.
I cut, shape and finish rock slices; gather and treat pine needles, construct shapes and negative space. The natural materials and the shapes tell stories: 50 years of growth or 50 million years of weather, suggestions of form or function, what the materials and shapes have witnessed, carried or contained.
In some ways, my process is engineering as much as art; the pine needle coils turn corners, create shadow, are layered and stacked. Translucent agate pieces incorporate more light; suspending rocks with coils adds the element of gravity. I am engaged in a sculptural exploration of what pine needles and rock slices can do.
