While doing research for my website topic I came across a
woman who used fungi as her medium for her art pieces. I was intrigued by this
and considering we just had an art history class, I decided to do a little
digging. Nellie Staves was born in 1917 in West Danville, Vermont. Her family
lived off the land that they owned and her parents taught her to never take
more from the forest than she could use. She spent the majority of her time
outdoors and enjoyed collecting fungi from trees. Nellie eventually moved to
Tupper Lake and became very involved in conservatism. Her belief of preserving
the forest and her interest in fungi led Nellie to using fungi as art.
Fungi Carving. The Wild Center |
Bracket Fungus growing on a tree |
Lynn, Peggy, and Sandra Weber. Breaking Trail: Remarkable Women of
the Adirondacks. Fleischmanns, NY:
Purple Mountain, 2004. Print.
Lynch, Mike. "Remembering Nellie Staves." Adirondack Daily Enterprise. N.p., 09 Oct. 2009. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
It's amazing how beautiful and detailed certain things on Earth can be. For example, when viewed under a microscope, some grains of sand can be so colorful and intricate. I like seeing art that incorporates nature a lot because it reveals the hidden beauty of our planet.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of my favorite artist's work, Andy Goldsworthy. Goldsworthy uses only things from the earth to make his sculptures. These are transient pieces, usually photographed to preserve them in time. He uses leaves to make beautiful patterns in the fall see here (http://www.angelusnews.com/imagescms/mapleleaves.jpg) or ice sculptures that he sticks together with water (http://blog-imgs-51.fc2.com/a/t/e/atelierkirin/d6da9396-c6d9-4f2e-8624-00b7798184b9_detail.jpg) These are such beautiful pieces that encapsulate the beauty of nature and they remind me of the work that Nellie Staves is doing.
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