the natural line

'...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

.....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

‘…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

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

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

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

...invisible salt in the waves...

...water churning with melodies...

'crystalline: ice, snow, frost'

'...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

'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).