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Elizabeth Berrien's wire giraffes have a special realism. Her two-year artist-in-residency at Marine World/Africa USA gave her everyday access to a herd of reticuated giraffes. "Giraffes are almost as challenging as elephants - the consist almost entirely of angles. I have to find and incorporate all the essential lines and angles, and still convey the intuitive sense of 'this is Giraffe'".
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Silvery Giraffe #1, 1983, Berrien's first large-scale aluminum sculpture. Hand-twisting aluminum rods is a tricky process, because each line must be locked precisely in place. "There is often no option for changing one's mind - you have to get it right the first time".
Even when twisting heavy aluminum rods, Berrien uses just her bare hands and a pair of wire cutters - "no gloves, no pliers, no chicken wire!"
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Silvery Giraffe, in landscape with African Elephant calf. Silvery wire sculptures look wonderful set against masses of dark shrubbery. This Elephant Calf was created at Marine World/Africa USA too - modeled after their newly arrived Misha.
Elizabeth Berrien is careful when working with heavy wire - "the pads of my thumbs and fingers are pressed between metal and bone. I have to tune that out, persuade myself the wire is made out of butter - creative denial!"
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Red Giraffe at Hayward City Hall
Artists are prone to getting critical of early works. In Elizabeth's words: "Twenty-five years later, I kept looking at Silvery Giraffe and saying, "with what I know now, I could go in and do surgery to sharpen this, modify that, and it'd look even more like a true giraffe. Instead, I challenged myself to make a new, 14-ft galloping Giraffe, with as high a difficulty factor as possible."
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Red Giraffe, at Morris Graves Museum of Art. Red Giraffe and Silvery Giraffe have been in several museums, and were included in Elizabeth Berrien's traveling exhibit of wire sculpture.
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Desktop Giraffe Small sculptures for the office and home help bring a sense of connectedness between humans and nature.
One-of-a-kind wire sculptures of giraffes can be ordered in any size, miniature to monumental.
See our Pricing Guide for quotes on small to life-size works.
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World Class Wire Sculpture · Elizabeth Berrien
Inquiries: (707) 445-4931 · Email: wirezoo@earthlink.net
Content and images copyright © 1968-2006 Elizabeth Berrien. All rights reserved.
Updated
Sept 20, 2006 · this page valid HTML 4.01
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