Can you feel the earth moving? This summer, VanDusen Botanical Garden is welcoming five acclaimed international and local earth artists: Nils-Udo, Urs-P. Twellmann, Chris Booth, Nicole Dextras and Michael Dennis. Assembled by John Grande – one of the world’s foremost Earth Art curators – the artists are at work now creating sculptural works within the broad canvas of VanDusen’s 55 acres. Unlike other forms of sculpture and painting which seek to create works of permanence, Earth Art uses organic materials taken from the landscape to create sculptures that inevitably decay over time. By its very nature, Earth Art is meant to be ephemeral, drawing the viewer’s attention to the beauty of the sculptural art, and the landscape in which it sits, through all its stages of existence.
The official opening of the show is next week, the works will then remain in situ scattered throughout the Garden. Peak viewing periods will include not just when the works are completed, but the public can view the artist-in-action construction period happening now.