Focusing on the natural world in his art, Penone explores concepts of growth and regeneration through sculpture, interventions, and imprints that transfer the image of body parts or the textures of natural elements onto paper. Here he has made a rubbing from planks of wood. Penone has said, "I feel the forest breathing and hear the slow, inexorable growth of the wood."
Gallery label from Multiplex: Directions in Art, 1970 to Now, November 21, 2007–July 28, 2008.
Penone often uses nature in his artworks, casting or imprinting trees, plants, or body parts. For this work he rubbed paper against planks of wood. Trees are an important recurring motif in Penone's work, representing an organism whose structure and growth parallels that of humans: "I feel the forest breathing," he wrote, "and hear the slow, inexorable growth of the wood."
Gallery label from Paper: Pressed, Stained, Slashed, Folded, March 11–June 22, 2009.
