Meet Patrick Dougherty | Sculptor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Patrick Dougherty and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Patrick, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
It is a bit unusual for a sculptor to be asked by a museum, a botanical garden, or another like-minded organization to travel to its locale, find a space, and construct a sprawling temporary sculpture within its domain. It’s even more unlikely that the sculpture these institutions favor would be big works woven from piles of tree saplings gathered on nearby land. Further, this activity involves scores of local volunteers who work with the sculptor during the construction process.
As odd as it sounds, this has been my small business model for the last forty years. It has been a strategy that has produced a constant income stream and resulted in over 300 sculptures. Public interest in the environment has contributed to the success of this effort, but at its core is the fact that humans are intrigued by sticks. Pictures from National Geographic magazine offer examples of sapling use by indigenous people, and every kid knows that a stick can be used as a tool, a weapon or a strand in a wall. Even adults might find themselves setting aside a provocative branch bound for a future project. It seems that a well-worked sapling sculpture can spark the imagination and resurrect memories of a first kiss under the lilac bush, or a survival bivouac built at summer camp.
A dogwood grove was the haven of my childhood, and fort building was an obsession. As a sculptor, I rediscovered the saplings along my driveway, and I suddenly felt that I had a giant warehouse of material always at my fingertips. I examined bird nests and indigenous stickwork and ultimately realized what birds and beavers already know; that is, branches have an infuriating tendency to tangle with each other. Snagging saplings together became my method of building.
Not only do saplings remind viewers of the forest, but they are lines with which to draw. And as I work, I try to sketch out windows, doors, and flying walls. I use flights of sticks to beckon passersby and encourage them to step inside. These works have proven hugely successful with audiences of all ages. No matter where I go, people pull out their phone to show me a picture of someone they love surrounded by my sapling sculpture.
In the early stages, before the work was proven, I worried about how to make my contribution to society. Doctors, fire fighters, and service providers have proven worth, sculptors live on untested ground. Eventually, I realized there are other important needs besides practical services. It’s worthwhile to offer something that affects the human spirit—art, music, dance, literature. Workers in these realms also can make a real contribution.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I love my work as a sculptor. It has meant extensive travel and spending most of my life outdoors. It has given me access to many treelined places around the globe and to high adventure in searching for the perfect sapling. I have built a sculpture in the branches of a sacred tree in front of a temple in Chiba, Japan and used a tree in Dublin to support the makings of a “copycat” round tower in the side yard of the Tallaght Community Art Center. I have conjured a group of stick pyramids in the sculpture garden at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, Alabama, and graced the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens in Vail, Colorado with flight of twenty-foot tall, Japanese styled jars. I invite you to check out my website at: www.stickwork.net

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The NCMA, of course.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to think all the avid viewers who have encountered my work and rushed to tell others about it. I am also grateful to the hundreds of volunteers who gave their time and energy to help gather truckloads of saplings and aid in the construction. Finally, I owe a debt of thanks to all the institutions and individuals who have sponsored the work and made my art installation possible.

Website: https://Stickwork.net

Image Credits
1. WingDing, 2017. Bay Area Discovery Museum, Sausalito, CA. Photo: Stian Rasmussen
2. Sortie de Cave, 2008. Jardin des Artes, Chateaubourg, France. Photo: Charles Crie
3. The Rookery, 2022. Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago, IL. Photo: courtesy CBG
4. Hodgepodge, 2018. Town of Vail, CO. Photo: Charles Townsend Bessent
5. Holy Rope, 1992. Riniyo-in Temple, Chiba, Japan. Photo: Tadhisa Sakurai
6. Rough ‘n Tumble, 2020. Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, AL. Photo: MMFA/Sarah Graves
7. Roundabout, 1997. Tallaght Community Arts Centre, Dublin, Ireland. Photo: Karl Browne