Nothing makes me happier than grabbing a coffee and a bunch of magazines on a Sunday morning, and sifting through a little creative eye candy. House & Home, Dwell, House & Garden, even the Food & Drink. One day I stumbled upon this man, Patrick Dougherty and his WOW stick work art sculptures. Wanting to read on and figure out where I can see one of these incredible installations, I then realized the article wasn’t in English. I was so intrigued by the beautiful pictures of these stick sculptures I had to do some further digging to find out more about him. Soon enough I found myself looking through hundreds of projects, in absolute awe of his incredible imagination and creativity.
“When I was looking for a way of working as a sculptor, I began looking around at the world and trying to find materials that were free, available, plentiful.” These sculptures are constructed from bundles of sticks, twigs, branches, saplings and vines, which usually takes around 3 weeks to construct. These sculptures not only are esthetically pleasing but as Patrick Dougherty said “It’s something that stirs the sense of simple shelter. It stirs feelings about childhood. It stirs the walks in the woods, where you had your first kiss. There’s just lots of associations connected with sticks. And I try to play with those and build up kind of depth of feeling so that when you walk into something or you walk up to it, you’re transported for a minute. You want to go over and look at it.” The sheer number and the way Patrick Dougherty talks about his work lets you see just how passionate and dedicated he is to his intricately woven structures.
Patrick Dougherty, the designer and creator of these grand naturalistic sculptures began this work in 1982 and has since completed over 290 stick works projects. Quite a few of these temporary sculptures have been built in and around North Carolina, which is where Patrick Dougherty grew up. Over the years, countless eye-catching creations made Patrick Dougherty world renowned. This lead him partaking in international projects in locations such as France, Germany, Australia, Korea, Scotland, Denmark and Japan to name a few. Absolutely amazing.
** All images courtesy of Patrick Dougherty**
PATRICK DOUGHERTY – INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED ENVIRONMENTAL SCULPTOR
meg & kennedy © 2024 | Site & Branding Designed by Monarch Design Co.