Gallery Sculpture

Crabapple and Evergreen Roots. 27” x 17” x 6”

Linden and evergreen root. 25” x 8.5” x 4.5”

Peppermint Roots. 4” x 5” x 10”

Peppermint Roots. 4” x 5” x 10”

Red dogwood. 12” x 9” x 20”. 2014

Red dogwood and pinecone.  42" x 10" x 13” each . 2014.

Red dogwood and manzanita. 56” x 32” x 37” & 61” x 30” x 19”. 2014

Red dogwood and manzanita.   69" x 31" x 17".   2014.

Sweet Fern. 9” x 5” x 5”. 2013

Elm and Arborvitae pods. 4” x 4” x 6”

Willow and Pine Cone.   53" x 12" x 17". 2010.

Willow and plumosum blossoms. 16” x 15” x 11”

Hawthorn and Horse Hair. 6" x 6" x 6".

Hawthorn and Horse Hair. 15" x 7" x 6"

Willow and Wool. 77" x 38" x 19"

Willow. 4” x 8” x 15”. 2013

Branches and Raffia. 30" x 10" x 8".

Outdoor Sculpture

Willow and Linden . 5.5" x 20" x 20” each.  Humbolt Park Chicago In the Jens Jensen Garden. 2017. Chicago Park District and Fieldwork Collaborative Projects

Willow and Linden . 5.5" x 20" x 20” each . Humbolt Park Chicago,  In the Jens Jensen Garden. 2017. Chicago Park District and Fieldwork Collaborative Projects

Willow  10’ x 3’ x 1’ Green Briar Park  Chicago Tree Project 2016 for the Chicago Park District

Linden branches. 3’ x 2’ x 3’. 2016. Installed in Portage Park. Part of the Chicago Tree Project

Mixed branches. 10' x 5' x 3'

Palm leaves 2’ x 20’ x 7" Guandu Nature Center, Taiwan Installed at the Guandu Jr High School in Taipei Taiwan 2013 Guandu International Outdoor Sculpture Show Guandu Nature Park

4.5’ x 2’ x 2’ Brushwood Gallery at Ryerson Woods, Deerfield, IL 2013 For the Smith Nature Symposium

Mixed branches. 12' x 2' x 8". Stone Quarry Sculpture Park, NY

Willow. 12' x 7' x 3'. Oak Park Sculpture Park

Willow. 7' x 2' x 3.5'. Oak Park Sculpture Walk

Branches and Rice Paper . 3’ x 20" x 18".  Garfield Park Conservatory 2012 . Part of the Chicago’s Twelve art show at Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago, IL Fern Room

Willow, rice paper and polymer. 2' x 6" x 2.5'. Garfield Park Conservatory

Wood, Rice Paper and Polymer.  7’ x 8" x 10’ . Lincoln Park Conservatory. 2012.  Part of the Form in Flora III sculpture show at Lincoln Park Conservatory, Chicago, IL. Sculptures hung in three palm trees

Wood and Steel . 3’ x 2’ x 120’ . Openlands Lakeshore Preserve. 2011 . An interpretive sculpture that helps to explain the process of erosion using driftwood as water, as it flows down an erosion zone on the side of a ravine.

Branches and Moss . 2" x 1.5" x 1.75".  I-Park  residency . 2011. A vessel of moss resting along a stream amongst moss covered rocks.

Pine Needles. 8" x 15’ x 15’. 2011. I-Park, CT

Pine Needles. 8’ x 8’ x 6’. 2011. I-Park, CT

Branches. 10' x 3' x 20". North park Village Nature Center

About Vivian Visser

Statement

If we wrap our naked soul’s in the raw and mysterious power of nature, taking refuge, we would leave personal artifacts, vessels with the voice of nature.
I see the shelter form as embodying the souls desire to retreat into a comforting and protective environment. The human experience is explored through natural materials which bring the viewer away from the controlled man made world and into the raw and mysterious realm of Nature where I believe we are vulnerable and the most real.

Bio

I have been creating sculptural works exploring our spiritual relationship with Nature since the early ‘90’s.
With works in national shows (Sculpted Green in Bellevue Washington and Fertile Ground - Honoring Nature in Art at Imlay Fine Arts in Montclair, NJ) Local exhibits (Chicago’s Twelve-12 Artists Mobilizing for the Earth, Zhou B Art Center and Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago, IL. and Feminist Ecology - Women and the Earth, at the Koehnline Museum of Art) and International exhibits (Cool Globes - Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet, which was at the Climate Summit in Copenhagen) I have attempted to share my ideas about our need to create a better relationship with Nature as a way to find peace within ourselves and each other.
Recently, I have completed a commission of interpretive public art work for the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve and created an environmental sculpture for the Guandu International Outdoor Sculpture Festival in Taiwan.
Chicago Tree Project. Green Briar Park, Chicago, IL

2014 Chicago Tree Project. Armour Square Park, Chicago
Oak Park Sculpture Walk, two installations, Oak Park, IL

2013 Seed & Life. Guandu International Outdoor Sculpture Festival, Guandu Nature Park, Taiwan.

CV

Environmental Installations:

2019

Turning Arts

Change Agents: Midwest Women Eco Artists, Hartmann Gallery, Bradley University, IL 
Sunshine Playscape. Lincoln Park Conservancy, Chicago, IL  
Dear Earth… Women Made gallery, Chicago, IL
2018

Evanston Arts Council Sculpture Leasing Program. Quinlan Park, Evanston
2017

Jens Jensen Formal garden Project. Humbolt Park, Chicago
Installation Nation. Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, IN

2016

Chicago Tree Project. Berger Park, Chicago
Oak Park Sculpture Walk. Oak Park, IL

2015

Stone Quarry Sculpture Park. Cazenovia, NY
When Art & Nature Meet. Forest Preserve of DuPage County, Mayslake Peabody Estate, IL
Chicago Tree Project. Green Briar Park, Chicago, IL

2014

Chicago Tree Project. Armour Square Park, Chicago
Oak Park Sculpture Walk, two installations, Oak Park, IL

2013

Seed & Life. Guandu International Outdoor Sculpture Festival, Guandu Nature Park, Taiwan.

2012

Form In Flora III. Lincoln Park Conservatory, Chicago
Ragdale Artwork and Openhouse. Ragdale, Lake Forest, IL
Chicago’s Twelve - 12 Artists Mobilizing for the Earth. Zhou B Art Center and Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago

2011

Form in Flora II. Lincoln Park Conservatory, Chicago. Curator
Openlands Lakeshore Preserve Interpretive Public Art. Permanent art commission. Highland Park, IL

2010

Form in Flora. Garfield Park Conservatory. Chicago. Curator

2007 - Current.

Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet. Traveled to Houston, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, and the Climate Conference in Copenhagen and Geneva. Book

Solo Shows:
2017

Vivian Visser. Cultivate Urban Rainforest, Evanston, IL
2012

Vivian Visser. Kathrin Cawein Gallery of Art, picnic University, Forest Grove, OR
2011

The Nature of Things. Cliff Dwellers Club, Chicago
2010

Refuge. Ryerson Woods Gallery, Chicago

Selected Exhibitions:
2015

Sculpture Invasion. Koehnline Museum of Art, Des Plaines, IL
Convergence: The Poetic Dialogue Project. Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago

2012

Natural Connections. Christopher Art Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL
Ways of Making: Sculpture. Governors State University, University park, IL
6 to the Third. Expo Chicago, Chicago

2011

6 to the Third. Art Chicago, Chicago
Sculpture International Invitational. Hostetler Gallery, Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL

2010 Artprize. Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI
Counter Currents. Art Chicago, Chicago. American Survey Award
Sculpture Invasion. Koehnline Museum of Art,Des Plaines, IL
Fertile Ground - Honoring Nature in Art. Imlay Fine Art, Montclair, NJ

2009

Summer Sculpture. Niemi Sculpture Garden and Gallery, Kenosha, WI

2008

Feminist Ecology - Women and the Earth. Koehnline Museum of Art, Des Plaines, IL
Let Us Examine the State of Our Environment. Phantom Gallery Installation Show, Garfield park Conservatory, Chicago
Sculpted Green. Bellevue Sculpture Exhibition, Bellevue, WA

2007

Sublime Climate I/III Addressing Global Warming. Thompson Family Gallery, Garthwaite Center for Science and Art,Weston, MA

2006

Niemi Sculpture Gallery. Niemi Sculpture Garden and Gallery, Kenosha, WI

2005

About-For-From Nature. Yahoo, the Korean Nature Art Association Traveling Exhibition. Permanent collection of the Nature Museum, Gong, Korea
Niemi Sculpture Gallery - Sculpture 2005. Uihlein Peters Gallery, Milwaukee,

Awards and Honors:
2019

“Art and Place,” Panelist, Midwest Women Artists Symposium, Bradley University, IL

2015

Stone Quarry Sculpture Park Residency, Cazenovia, NY Ragdale
2014

DCASE Grant, Chicago
2013

Guandu International Sculpture Festival, Taipei Taiwan
2011

Chicago Artist Month Featured Artist, Chicago
I-Park Residency, East Haddam, CT
2010

American Survey Award, Art Chicago
2009 The Puffin Foundation Grant, Teaneck, NJ
2006, 2009, 2010

Chicago Artist Assistance Grant, Chicago

Education:
1992

Center for Creative Studies - College of Art and Design. Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Sculpture.

Print:
2017

Louise Burton, Chicago Tribune, “See It Now - Art of the natural world and urban jungle populate a pair of gallery shows”. Jan ‘17
2012

Danijela Krucun and Charles McFadden, “Contemporary Sculptors -84 International Artists”, Atglen, PA, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.
2010

Joseph Bechere, Grand Rapids Press. Review. “Expert tour of Grand Valley State University Pew Campus exhibition center: Urban sculpture park should be ‘applauded’” Sept.’10
2009

The London Times, Cover photo. Cool Globe - Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet show
in Copenhagen during the Climate Summit. London England.
2007

Imagination Publishing, “Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet”, Cool Globes coffee table book.
Don Parker, “Vivian Visser - Sculpted by Nature”, Chicago Wilderness Magazine, Fall

exhibits (Cool Globes - Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet, which was at the Climate Summit in Copenhagen) I have attempted to share my ideas about our need to create a better relationship with Nature as a way to find peace within ourselves and each other.
Recently, I have completed a commission of interpretive public art work for the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve and created an environmental sculpture for the Guandu International Outdoor Sculpture Festival in Taiwan.

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Got something you’d like me to work on? Or how about a friendly chat? Contact me today.

Address:

Chicago, IL, USA

Email:

Phone:

773-569-9246

Benjamin Franklin

"Well done is better than well said"