Barbara De Pirro 'artist-to-artist'

forecast: snow & ice

2012-01-20T13:57:00.000-08:00

streams, strands, splatters & pools

2012-01-09T14:57:00.000-08:00

Ever wondered how to create luscious poured & drippy color fields?

Discover boundless new ways of working with acrylic paint. Gain an understanding of gels & mediums that will modify your paint causing it to behave in intriguing ways. Discover what happens when you combine certain products together….even more curious affects? This workshop is supremely experimental but at the same time, you will gain in depth knowledge of a wide range of acrylic products and techniques changing your whole way of painting!

February 11 & 12

ArtsNow

(located at Artworks)

201 2nd Ave. S, Edmonds, WA

(425)640-1243

A more detailed description & my full schedule HERE

on the beach....

2011-12-05T13:04:00.000-08:00

zucca

2011-10-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

photo credit Barbara De Pirro

Flooded pumpkin patch in Northeast....

more HERE

'forest weavings' on Camano Island

2011-09-15T15:45:00.000-07:00

'forest weavings' Barbara De Pirro

My outdoor series of installations ‘forest weavings’ utilize invasive plant species, such as ivy vine. Removing it from the forest, I weave it into nests, a symbol of shelter and protection. Once each sculpture is dried, they are then tucked safely back into the trees. My intent is to raise awareness to the fact that invasive, plant species have contributed to a huge decline in the diversity of our indigenous plants, endangering our native species.

'forest weavings' Barbara De Pirro

'forest weavings' Barbara De Pirro

On view now at,

Matzke Gallery & Sculpture Park

2345 Blanche Way

Camano Island, WA

360.387.2759

'forest weavings' Barbara De Pirro

This piece was also created with invasive plant species (ivy vines, scotch broom), waste wood (tree pruning’s) woven into reclaimed plastic shellfish mesh.

More information HERE
More images HERE

Meander through my magical garden....

2011-08-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

Hydrangea

Lilac

Lupin

Iris

Foxglove

Rhododendron

Sweet Pea

Thistle

Euphorbia

Day Lily

Tiger Flower

Onion Flower

Daisy

last but not least.....the humble dandelion

yellow divine!

2011-06-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

Scotch broom, Cytisus scopariusin,
is considered to be a noxious invasive species…

but on this day,

I was engulfed in a
field of yellow
& it was magical!

with just a splash of
orange red!

in the studio: 'flora plastica'

2011-06-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

'flora plastica' Barbara De Pirro

Since last November, I’ve been madly crocheting through mind-boggling mountains of brilliantly, colored plastic bags. Averaging about 6-8 hours a day, hundreds ...eeek nearly two thousand hours...crocheting through the same number of bags. My challenge was to transform this invasive, synthetic material into a floral extravaganza, titled ‘flora plastica’*.

This site-specific sculpture will initially be suspended within the Tacoma Art Museum's entry atrium in celebration of ‘Flora & Fine Art’. In the lobby for a month, then mid July it will be re-installed, settling into a new space also within the Museum.

'flora plastica' (in process) Barbara De Pirro

I arrived at the museum with 4 five gallon containers packed full of the completed sculpture and 2 large 're-useable' bags stuffed with all finishing materials and tools. The museum was closed to the general public which allowed me the space to spill out onto the lobby floor.

'flora plastica' (in process) Barbara De Pirro

Although the initial installation would be suspended 14 feet across the museums entry atrium, after 1 month, it would re-installed into a secondary spot....details to be determined. Keeping this in mind, I designed it in strands or individual components. This would allow it to take on various forms, adapting to different situations.

'flora plastica' (in process) Barbara De Pirro

These individual strands were threaded onto 1/8" airplane cable, able to securely withstand its full weight. If you look closely you can see that between each strand I strung a 1/4" bead to help maintain spacing even after gravity had its time to play.

'flora plastica' (in process) Barbara De Pirro

Centering the piece within the 14 foot span, each side was finished off with vine, leaves, pods and bee hives.

Special thanks to Museum Preparators

Cyrus Smith and Jeremy Mangan

It took all three of us to hoist it onto the lift

and four art 'Genies' to install !!

'flora plastica' Barbara De Pirro

Special thanks to Tacoma Art Museum and Tacoma Garden Club

…and of course, all my friends & family for providing me with this plastic abundance and for all your fantastic support!

*'flora plastica' was commissioned by Tacoma Art Museum and Tacoma Garden Club.

the natural line

2011-05-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

'...seeds dancing in the grass....'

'...sweet whispers...'

'....thriving in the folds of a tree...'

'clustered at the edge of the forest...'

'...framed in shadow & light...'

'...the thick smell of seaweed...'

'...a woody web of branches...'

in the studio: roots & vines

2011-05-06T10:41:00.000-07:00

.....taking inspiration from natures invasive ivy vines strangling and rooting into this grand old tree, I've recreated this in my recent sculptures and installations, both outside & in.

'roots & vines: plastica' Barbara De Pirro

2010 Carkeek Park, curated by CoCA Seattle.

'roots & vines: plastica' (detail) Barbara De Pirro

2010 Carkeek Park, curated by CoCA Seattle.

'roots & vines: plastica' Barbara De Pirro

Matzke Sculpture Park, Camano Island, WA

(Funding for 'roots &vines:plastica' was made possible by

Artist Trust Grants for Artist Projects (GAP) and CoCA Seattle)

'roots & vines' Barbara De Pirro

crocheted fiber encapsulated in acrylic, reinforced with steel and wood

more images here

oxidation.corrosion.rust

2011-03-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

‘…merely from exposure to moisture in the air…’

‘…forming a crack in the core of a solid craggy mass…’

'...like dry stitches between the linear segments...'

‘…a rocky cradle, a cherished white stone…’

in the studio: ice

2011-03-01T08:33:00.000-08:00

What begins as a humble disc of ice precariously balanced

within the branches of an apple tree,

translates into this unexpected sculptural detail
representing ice, honey or amber.

'fractured' Barbara De Pirro

(acrylic encapsulated styrene & steel)

'unearthed' Barbara De Pirro

(crocheted fiber encapsulated in acrylic & steel)

fluidity in motion

2011-02-15T17:32:00.000-08:00

...the darkness perforated by the light...

....the unwinding of the foam....

...invisible salt in the waves...

...water churning with melodies...

'crystalline: ice, snow, frost'

2011-01-19T10:29:00.000-08:00

'...salt water freezes, encapsulating, suspending each stone in a transparent pool of ice...'

'...a disc of ice precariously balanced becomes a distorted lens ...'

'...needles, leaves & pods encapsulated within multiple layers of ice...'

'...crystalline water ice, captured within natures delicate framework; branches, needles, the lacey remnants of garlic & fennel…’

‘...water vapor from saturated air, forming velvet crystals, delicately coating each subtle plant fiber and exposed edge…’

'vortex plastica' Spaceworks Tacoma

2010-11-01T13:41:00.000-07:00

'vortex plastica' Barbara De Pirro

Pulled from a vast resource of materials this sculptural installation was created using ‘hundreds’ of reclaimed plastic bags, bottles and caps,

tirelessly crocheted, woven, wired and tied

to form a series of metaphorical vortexes.

'vortex plastica' Barbara De Pirro

'...With its expert use of garden-fresh color (the expanse of recycled bottlecaps is mindful of a field of blooming flowers), the art piece has the power to attract, delight, surprise and repel (when it is discovered what the material is), in short order. No wonder – like a figment from a nightmare, vortex plastica was inspired by the North Pacific Gyre, which carries an enormous and deadly “garbage patch” of plastics and refuse that is perpetually locked in its ocean currents....'

Lisa Kinoshita, Spaceworks Tacoma

Installation runs through February 28, 2011

Spaceworks Tacoma

912 Broadway

(directly across from the Pantages Theatre)

more about this project here: http://www.depirro.com/installation.html

and here: http://www.depirro.com/press.html

'vortex plastica' Barbara De Pirro

Spaceworks Tacoma is a joint initiative of the City of Tacoma, Shunpike

and Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce

Funding for this project was made possible in part by Spaceworks Tacoma

and Artist Trust Grants for Artist Projects (GAP).

'sprout plastica' - CoCA Seattle

2010-08-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

'sprout plastica' Barbara De Pirro

(plastic fiber, petals, twigs & steel)

‘sprout’

Unassumingly,

from beneath the rubble,

what appears to be….a barren landscape,

a seed trembles on the wind,

landing lightly on the moist surface.

Encouraged and nourished by rain,

its hard shell releases, attaching roots,

tenderly a shoot forms,

slowly reaching upwards

towards the radiant sky.

At first a single sprout

standing alone

and then another,

multiplying into a series of spires,

new life begins again.

'sprout plastica' Barbara De Pirro

(plastic fiber, petals, twigs & steel)

'sprout' details Barbara De Pirro

(plastic fiber, petals, twigs & steel)

'Overgrowth & Understory'

Sculpture Exhibit

Cougar Mountain Wilderness Park

Issaquah, WA

July 10 - October 2

Curated by David Frances, CoCA Seattle

For more information & images:

http://www.depirro.com/

http://depirro.blogspot.com/2010/07/overgrowth-and-understory.html

Funding for this project was made possible in part by Artist Trust Grants for Artist Projects (GAP).

Special thanks to Antonia Xavie De Pirro for her assistance!

'roots & vines: plastica' - CoCA Seattle

2010-06-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

.....taking inspiration from natures invasive ivy vines strangling and rooting into this grand old tree, I've recreated this in my recent sculpture 'roots & vines: plastica'.

'roots & vines: plastica' Barbara De Pirro

(plastic fiber, cable & steel)

A mysterious unexpected form,

distant imagery,

familiar in an intimate way.

A web of fiber,

a tangle of forest vine,

exposed and twisted roots,

fibrous tendrils clinging to the surface,

enveloping the decaying wood,

humbly feeding off the unforgotten.

Natures cycle of decay and rebirth,

regeneration, renewal….life.

'roots & vines: plastica' Barbara De Pirro
(plastic fiber, cable & steel)

'heaven and earth II'
Carkeek Park
Seattle, WA

June-September 2010

Curated by David Frances, CoCA Seattle

For more information & images:

http://www.depirro.com/installation.html
http://www.depirro.com/press.html

Funding for this project was made possible in part by CoCA Seattle and Artist Trust Grants for Artist Projects (GAP).

'fungo plastica' - Port Angeles Fine Art Center

2010-06-03T09:48:00.000-07:00

'fungo plastica' Barbara De Pirro

(plastic fiber & steel)

'...Petroleum-based nature blossoms in a grand old tree nearby in the form of Barbara De Pirro’s (Shelton) Fungo Plastica. Made from recycled plastic grocery bags, stretched into beige yarns then crocheted into spheres of many sizes, ranging from a marble to a softball, they are arranged in cloned progressions and clusters like a parasitic invading life form, nestled into cavities and fissures in the gnarled and ruptured bark....' *

Art Outside IX
Webster’s Woods Art Park

Port Angeles Fine Arts Center

1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd.

Port Angeles, WA

(360) 457-3532

Curated by Jake Senuik *

For more information & images:
http://www.depirro.com/installation.html

Funding for this project was made possible in part by Port Angeles Fine Art Center

‘in the garden’

2010-05-09T14:27:00.000-07:00

‘iris, rhododendron, lilac & dandelion’ Barbara De Pirro

sifting through my small collection of books,

searching for the subject of flowers....here is what I found.

'A Flower Fairy Alphabet by Cicely Mary Barker'

a gift from my mother in 1968, a little girls dreams....

'Karl Blossfeldt by Rolf Sachsse'

he photographed plants by the thousands, awe-inspiring...

'Fairie-ality, the fashion collection from the House of Ellwand'

flower fairy fashions, magical.....

and of course,

'Georgia O'Keefe'

....sensually brilliant!

'the ocean'

2010-04-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

‘It’s not the wave with its salty weight

that grinds against the coasts and manufactures

the peaceful bands of sand that ring the world:

it is the central volume of your strength,

the ever-extending power of your waters,

the still solitude brimming with lives.

Time, perhaps, or overflowing cup

of all known motion, a pure oneness

that death has never sealed, green viscera

of blazing absolute totality.

Of the sunken arm that throws up a drop of water

nothing remains but a kiss of salt. Of the bodies

of mankind along your shores a misty scent

of wet flowers is all that lasts. Your energy

seems to slip away without ever being exhausted,

it seems to circle back into the calm.’

by Pablo Neruda (passage from The Ocean)

'bloom' - Museum of Glass

2010-03-05T11:10:00.000-08:00

'bloom' Barbara De Pirro

a space to float, to daydream

an umbrella of whimsy

radiating light & a flush of color

pollinating creativity and ingenuity

awakening a childlike sense

of wonder, awareness and awe

Museum of Glass

Art Studio

Tacoma, WA

This sculptural installation and its companion window pieces are created using recycled & re-imagined plastics.

'bloom' Barbara De Pirro

Individual petals created using recycled plastic bags & milk jugs cut into form then wired to armature. Spirals & tendrils created from recycled plastic lids, place mats & file folders.

'bloom' Barbara De Pirro

Color sheets created by splicing together recycled plastic product packaging & labels. The individual dotz were then cut from these and adhered to individual petals.

For more information & images:
http://www.depirro.com/installation.html

ode to hope

2010-02-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

'cloudscape' Barbara De Pirro

Oceanic dawn

at the center

of my life,

waves like grapes,

the skies solitude,

you fill me

and flood

the complete sea,

the undiminished sky,

tempo

and space,

seafoam’s white

battalions,

the orange earth,

the sun’s

fiery waist

in agony,

so many

gifts and talents,

birds soaring into their dreams,

and the sea, the sea

suspended

aroma,

chorus of rich, resonant salt,

and meanwhile,

we ‘humans’,

touch the water,

struggling,

and hoping,

we touch the sea,

hoping.

and the waves tell the firm coast:

‘everything will be fulfilled.’

Pablo Neruda

my winter garden

2010-01-29T14:02:00.000-08:00

Barbara De Pirro

I sat in the garden, spattered

by the great drops of winter,

and it seemed to me impossible

that beneath all that sadness,

that crumbled solitude,
the roots were still at work

with no one to encourage them.

Pablo Neruda (absence and presence)

'erosion-erosione'

2009-12-18T10:10:00.000-08:00

erosion-erosione' Barbara De Pirro

forest fiber

2009-12-17T11:48:00.000-08:00

'forest fiber' Barbara De Pirro

‘Lichen is a symbiosis,

two or more organisms living together

such that both are more successful within the partnership

than they would have been if they were living on their own.'

infinity.fluidity.matter

2009-12-03T12:31:00.000-08:00

clouds are pink...land softens

'touching the blue skin of heaven'

shadows...moving across the sky

'infinity.fluidity.matter' Barbara De Pirro