This unconventional Tower Hill Botanic Garden exhibition features large-scale, stainless steel sculptures that move and change with the wind. View the sculptures and learn more about their connections to art, science, and nature. An artist and engineer, George Sherwood creates kinetic sculptures that evoke shimmering leaves, flocks of birds, schools of fish, and waves of light and water.
American sculptor George Sherwood explores aesthetic systems of
space, time, and the dynamic relationships of objects in motion. The
choreography of each piece is governed by a set of basic movements,
facilitated by an arrangement of aerodynamic surfaces connected by
rotational points. His work is usually made of stainless steel, the
reflective qualities of which integrate the sculpture into its
environment. For his outdoor works, wind speed and direction, shades of
light, time of day, precipitation, and seasonal color transform the
qualities of light and movement of the sculpture.
An award-winning American sculptor, Sherwood was born and raised in
the coastal town of Fairfield, Connecticut. He now lives and works in
Ipswich, Massachusetts, and holds degrees in both art and engineering.
Sherwood’s initial interest in the art of movement began during the
1970′s. Drawn to and inspired by physical theater groups such as
Mummenschanz, Pilobolus, and The Celebration Mime Theatre, he developed a
theatrical performance consisting of large animated props, sculptures,
and masks that were manipulated by the performers. After earning an
engineering degree in the 1980′s he turned his focus to Concept
Development for LEGO Futura the Research and Development arm of LEGO.
Working with advanced technologies and as a liaison with the MIT Media
Lab, he was part of a team that helped developed preliminary concepts
leading to the development of Mindstorms and Virtual LEGO construction
software. It was during this time that he was introduced to the
wind-powered sculpture of George Rickey, a pioneer in kinetic sculpture.
A growing passion to create his own sculpture led Sherwood to pursue
this as a full-time career.
Sherwood’s work is in permanent collections, including The Currier Museum, The Dana Farber Cancer Institute 20th and 21stcentury Contemporary Art Collection in Boston, The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, The Atlanta Botanical Garden, and the Contemporary Sculpture Path at Forest Hills Educational Trust. Public projects include the city of Salt Lake City, Utah; The Christian Science Center in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, New Hampshire. Solo exhibitions include the Currier Museum, Manchester, NH (2010); Saint Gauden’s National Historic Site in Cornish, NH; The Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, MA (2010); and Katonah Museum, Katonah, NY. In 2007 he was awarded the Lillian Heller Award for Contemporary Art at Chesterwood in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
For more information visit https://www.towerhillbg.org/wind-waves-light-exhibit/
