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SITE MAP
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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'".
|
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!" |
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!" |
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." |
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. |
 |
Desktop
Giraffe Small sculptures for the
office and home help bring a sense of connectedness between humans and
nature.
Contact us
for quotes on life-size works.
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|
World
Class Wire Sculpture
· Elizabeth Berrien (707) 445-4931 · email wireladye@yahoo.com
Content and images
© 1968-2009 Elizabeth Berrien. All rights reserved.
·
Updated Aug 5, 2010 · this page valid HTML 4.01
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