artist spotlight: Janet Echelman - ethereal sculptures

 I happened to be watching some TED Talks about creativity when I stumbled upon a talk by Janet Echelman, an artist who was talking about her work with sculptures. It was really interesting because she talked about how she collaborated with small-village fisherman, aeronautical engineers, landscape architects, and a whole myriad of different people in order to permanently install her art in huge public areas. I was amazed at the whole extensive process and effort that went into all her sculptures and marveling at how beautiful they looked, when suddenly I recognized one of the images in the video.

 It was a picture of this "red net sculpture" residing in my hometown, Richmond, at the Olympic Oval. I used to drive by that giant net all the time but I had never really showed any appreciation towards this random gargantuan art installation that had seemingly appeared overnight when the 2010 Winter Olympics had been held right in my backyard, but apparently, Janet Echelman was the one who had designed and commissioned that huge sculpture to be built.

 It definitely gave me a newfound admiration for artists who slave away at a concept for years in order to finally have a masterpiece to showcase. Seriously, it's crazy how much time and effort went into that thing. That got me researching - I went on her website and I love the installations she created in Pheonix and Sydney.

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"Tsunami" (2011) Sydney, Australia

"Her Secret is Patience" (2009) Phoenix, Arizona

"Water Sky Garden" (2009) Richmond, British Columbia

all images from Janet Echelman's website

I am especially in love with the one in Phoenix, because it looks like this ethereal and calm yet crazy-cosmic tornado that makes me want to lie underneath it and stare at it for hours. I think this calls for a trip to Arizona. haha.

Anyway, you should definitely watch this video where she tells you about the whole process and how she started making these huge urban sculptures.

Here's the link:

TED TALK: Janet Echelman - Taking Imagination Seriously

Enjoy =)