Sculpture

Alan Sonfist created these artworks from natural materials, then transplanted them into urban environments. We see nature seizing territory back from the city; we have a rare opportunity to witness nature triumphing over technology.

The following artworks juxtapose nature's maternal curves with the rigid angles of human construction. As Walt Whitman has written, "After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on - have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear - what remains? Nature remains."

Metal Sculptures

During his career, Alan Sonfist has created a number of international site-specific "green" sculptures, utilizing different materials from bronze and aluminum to stainless steel. Each material gives its own unique history of the land and serves as an artistic geological marker. Whether it is ancient vegetation cast in bronze or endangered trees rendered in aluminum, Sonfist's metal sculptures are eternal records of nature's fragility.

Bronze Sculptures

1. Circles of Life
2. Walking Limbs
3. Bronze nature and culture
   • Natural and Bronze branches
   • Natural and Gilded
   • Bronze Protector

Stainless Steel Sculpture

1. Nature Protector
2. Tower of Growth
3. Disappearing Forest of Germany
4. Monumental Leaves
   • Monumental Leaf Sun Sculpture
   • Leaf Vein Screen

Rare Metal Sculptures

• Time Enclosures of Miami
• Time Enclosures of New York
• Seasonal Sundial
• Trail of Gold Series
  • Trail of Gold #1
  • Trail of Gold #2

Wood Sculpture

These sculptures are relics of the forest which have been isolated and then preserved in their found positions. Sonfist created his first work in the genre in the late 1960s. His art ranges from small microcosmic remnants of the ancient forests of New York to macrocosmic sculptures representing the endangered forests of the American West. Recently, he has created monumental sculptures which represent the impact of climate change on forest ecology on a global scale.

• Trees of Aspen

Wood Relief Sculptures

• Jumping Red Maple
• Two Dancing Red Maples
• Pirouette of Red Maple

Element Selection

• Element Selection
• Earth Mapping Element Selection

Geological Sculptures

Beginning in the late 1960s, Alan Sonfist pioneered the environmental art movement with his world-renowned geological sculptures. These innovative and awe-inspiring pieces link art and nature in such a way that the sculpture becomes part of the landscape. Sonfist continually works to expose the living earth and its internal history. Even when creating art in urban centers, Sonfist uses his work to unearth the hidden narrative below the pavement.

1. Rock Monument of Akron
2. Rock Monument of Buffalo
3. Charlemagne Fortification
4. Rock Monument of Chicago
5. Earth Monument of Koln
6. New York City
   • Manhattan Cross Section
   • Rock Monument of NYC
7. Pool of Earth
8. Time Totem
9. Rocky Mountain Arch

Sustainable Water Sculptures

Alan Sonfist's sustainable water sculptures harness the natural beauty of water while calling attention to water's importance as the world's most precious resource. The water landscapes use indigenous and natural filtering plants and sand to both purify the water and create the sculptural forms.

1. Natural/Cultural Landscape of Dallas
2. Ancient Leaf of Florence