Visiting Artist: Patrick Dougherty

Environmental artist Patrick Dougherty was at the Honolulu Museum of Art from Feb. 6 to 24, creating his seven-part sculpture Footloose. In just over two weeks, the North Carolina-based artist and a small army of volunteers harvested, then stripped, twisted and wove strawberry guava tree saplings to create a large, organic sculpture.

The surrounding environment and its given materials play a significant role in shaping Dougherty's sculptures and in this case, his work draws from the architectural elements of the museum's historical building and grounds.

In 2005, Dougherty used strawberry guava saplings to fashion a sculpture that rose sinuously under the giant monkeypod tree on Spalding House's lawn. And last September, he spent three weeks at Maui's Hui No'eau, where he created On the Wild Side out of invasive plant species to mark the launch of the art center's new public program Ho'ololi: The Environmental Art Garden.