Guests will discover them throughout the Garden—simultaneously rising out of the landscape and blending into it with perfect harmony. Tobin says the pieces are experiential; they are meant to be walked through, interacted with, and explored from all angles. “Because they’re so open, these pieces activate the space between the viewer, the sculptures and beyond,” he says.
Naples Botanical Garden
Steve Tobin, Romeo and Juliet, 2003.
NAPLES, FL – Naples Botanical Garden opens its 2020-21 season, Roots: Power of the Unseen, with an ambitious 11-month exhibition of artist Steve Tobin’s acclaimed “Roots” sculptures. The steel and bronze works featured in Steve Tobin: Nature Underground pay homage to the wonderfully complex world that lies beneath the soil.
Alternating between intricate replicas and streamlined renderings, Tobin’s sculptures challenge viewers to consider the outsized role roots play in sustaining all life on Earth. The works seem to dance in their spaces, spiraling upward to create elegant forms as well as ever-changing shadows.
Naples Botanical Garden
Steve Tobin, Walking Roots, 2002.
Naples Botanical Garden
Steve Tobin, Steelroot, 2011.
About the artist:
Contemporary sculptor Steve Tobin’s vast repertoire includes works in glass, clay, bronze, and steel. He explores natural forms and cites nature as his earliest influence, one that continues to inform his work. His creations have been shown internationally at such venues as the American Museum of Natural History; the Page Museum/La Brea Tar Pits and Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History; Carpe Diem Gallery in Paris; Retretti Art Center, Finland; Gallery 10, New York City; and Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia. The sculptor is renowned for his “Trinity Root” sculpture cast from the stump and roots of a large sycamore tree that shielded St. Paul’s Church from the collapsing Twin Towers during the 9/11 attacks.
