Nature Becomes Art (10 Photos vol. 5)

October 5, 2026

By Vidar

A little help from nature

Hannah Bullen-Ryner built this hedgehog by hand from bits of nature, then left it on the autumn ground. In these ten works, nature supplies the material, the setting or the finishing touch.

More: When Street Art Meets Nature (40 Photos)

🌳 “UMI” — By Daniel Popper, photographed in Lisle, Illinois, USA 🇺🇸

Root-like forms rise into a woman’s face and folded hands, leaving a passage visitors can walk through. This photograph shows UMI at the Morton Arboretum during Daniel Popper’s Human+Nature exhibition. The sculpture is now permanently installed at the Aurora Highlands in Colorado.

💡 Nerd Fact: UMI takes its name from the Arabic word for “mother.” That woody look comes from steel and glass-fiber-reinforced concrete.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsUmiDaniel Popper · 2021 · Hogan Park, Aurora, ColoradoMade for a 2021 showSteel & fiber concrete16,755 lb (developer)1It was made for an Illinois arboretum show, then taken apart, shipped to Colorado and rebuilt with adjusted proportions.Denver72According to the developer, the bark-like look is built on steel and glass fiber reinforced concrete.The Aurora Highlands202120 MayArboretum announces UMI202120 MayOpening announced202222 JulArboretum photo, Lisle202215 DecClosing announced202330 JanWinter photo, Lisle202319 AugUnveiled in Aurora202418 OctDenver Post photo, Aurora202512 NovDenver Gazette visit202612 JunNamed in local news20268 JulConcert at Umi listedRead the full file →

More: Daniel Popper Builds Giants You Can Walk Through (32 Photos)

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🦔 “Little Autumn Hedgehog” — By Hannah Bullen-Ryner in the UK 🇬🇧

A dark nose and glossy eye peek out from a coat of white fluff, thin red spikes and grass seed heads. Hannah Bullen-Ryner’s little hedgehog sits on bare earth with fallen autumn leaves piled around it.

💡 Artist Fact: Bullen-Ryner uses no fixings or tools in her ephemeral land art. She holds lighter materials in place with heavier ones, photographs the result, and leaves it to the elements.

More: Hannah Bullen-Ryner Made These From Nature (18 Photos)

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🐚 “Mother and Baby in Conch” — By Debra Bernier of Vancouver Island, Canada 🇨🇦

A mother curls around her baby inside the opening of a conch shell. In Debra Bernier’s Mother and Baby in Conch, the figures follow the curve of the shell’s warm orange interior.

More: 19 Driftwood Sculptures by Debra Bernier, Using Natural Materials Such as Driftwood, Clay and Shells

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🌱 Fran’s Summer Hairstyle — By David Zinn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸

Fran smiles and waves one small hand from the sidewalk in her purple shirt. Zinn drew her just below a grassy crack, and his own caption calls the result a summertime hairstyle that is “100% natural with very healthy roots.”

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsFran’s Summer HairstyleDavid Zinn · 2021 · Ann Arbor, MichiganChalk and charcoalHair is real grassSold as a signed print1Zinn lists the materials as “chalk, charcoal, and participatory weeds”: Fran’s hair is grass growing from a sidewalk crack.zinnart.com2The chalk was temporary, but the artist sells his photo of it as a hand-signed print called “Natural Hair, Strong Roots”.zinnart.com202121 JulDrawn, artist’s recordRead the full file →

More: David Zinn Made Us Smile Again (12 Photos)

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🌀 “Fossil” — By Jon Foreman at Lindsway Bay, Wales, UK 🇬🇧

An ammonite-like spiral fills the beach beneath the cliffs. The branching lines grow denser toward the center, while the small figure near the far edge shows just how much sand Jon Foreman has turned into Fossil. His post about it opened with four words: “This is not AI.”

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsFossilJon Foreman · 2024 · Lindsway Bay, PembrokeshireDrawn in sandAmmonite-shaped spiralSand on an open beach1The artist posted it with the caption “This is not AI.” before giving the title, year and beach.Sculpt the World on Facebook2Lindsway Bay can only be reached by the coast path or across playing fields from the village of St Ishmaels.Visit Pembrokeshire2024Artist“Fossil, 2024”, artist’s postRead the full file →

More: Clever Land Art by Jon Foreman (8 Photos)

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❤️ Male Cardinal — By Hannah Bullen-Ryner

The bright red body catches your eye first; then the little pieces begin to separate into berries, petals and twigs. Hannah Bullen-Ryner arranged them into a cardinal with a pointed crest and a tiny, alert eye. Even its perch is part of the arrangement.

More: 18 Nature Artworks by Hannah Bullen-Ryner

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🌾 “Japonism Revived in the Rice Fields” — Gyoda, Saitama, Japan 🇯🇵

Hokusai’s Great Wave, Mount Fuji and the kabuki hero Umeōmaru are all made of growing rice. Gyoda City called its 2021 design Japonism Revived in the Rice Fields: Ukiyo-e and Kabuki. Volunteers planted the picture in June, and its colors change as the rice ripens.

💡 Nerd Fact: The picture is stretched on purpose. Gyoda’s city newsletter says it is drawn in perspective for the 50-meter observation deck at Ancient Lotus Hall and looks distorted from directly above. Four rice varieties supply the green, black, red and white.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsJaponism Revived in the Rice Fields: Ukiyo-e and KabukiGyoda City · 2021 · Kodai Hasu no Sato, GyodaFour kinds of riceAbout 2.7–2.8 haPlanted by 539 people1Green, black, red and white come from four different rice varieties, so the picture keeps changing colour until harvest.Gyoda City newsletter2The design is stretched in perspective to look right from a 50-metre-high observation room; seen from straight above it looks distorted.Gyoda City newsletter202126 MayDesign announced202114 JunCity photo, just planted202119 JulNewsletter photo, full colour202130 JulTourism bureau: at its best202131 JulAFP report202115 SepSpoon & Tamago202116 OctHarvest event202128 OctCity photo, turned golden202115 NovFinal cutting from this dateRead the full file →

More: The Japanese City Gyoda Transforms Agricultural Land Into Works of Art

🥢 “Nu(tree)tion” — By Sath in Penang, Malaysia 🇲🇾

A painted hand lifts a pair of yellow chopsticks toward a real tree above the wall, turning the overhanging greenery into a very large mouthful. Sath, the Spanish artist Sandro Thomàs, made Nu(tree)tion in Penang in 2015, and his website lists it among a series of pun-titled pieces from the island.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsNu(tree)tionSath · 2015 · Penang, MalaysiaReal tree is the foodPun-titled series1The title hides ‘tree’ inside ‘nutrition’, and the real tree hanging over the wall plays the food lifted by painted chopsticks.sath.es2Sath said his pun titles sometimes come first, sending him to search for the right place to express the idea.Sath’s website201531 MarArtist’s photo, camera date20151 JulDesign You Trust20168 NovArtist’s republicationRead the full file →

More: By Sath in Mallorca and Penang

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🌲 “Spire” — By Andy Goldsworthy in the Presidio, San Francisco, California, USA 🇺🇸

Dark cypress trunks lean together into one long point above the grove. Goldsworthy made the 95-foot Spire in 2008 from 37 trunks of old cypress trees felled right here.

💡 Forest Fact: The young trees planted around Spire are meant to grow up and slowly hide it. In 2008, Presidio forester Peter Ehrlich said they would be about as tall as the sculpture in 20 years.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsSpireAndy Goldsworthy · 2008 · Presidio, San FranciscoMonterey cypress trunksBase about 15 feet wideFirst of 4 Presidio works1It is built from trunks of Monterey cypress trees felled on the very same site during the Presidio’s reforestation.Presidio Trust2After the 2020 fire, a forester, a structural engineer and a wood specialist found it stable, so it was left standing, charred.Funcheap SF200818 SepWork begins200810 NovCompleted in October202023 JunFire: “stands, though badly damaged”2021FebFound stable, can stay20215 JunChronicle visit, fenced202223 MarCritic: “still stands”202328 AugCommons photo, charredRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Daderot / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

🪵 “The Big Easy” — By Patrick Dougherty at Duke Gardens, Durham, North Carolina, USA 🇺🇸

From below, the woven shapes look like a group of giants with stick hairdos. Patrick Dougherty’s The Big Easy went up in February 2017, made from locally harvested saplings. He spent three weeks on it with Duke Gardens staff, volunteers and a few local fans.

💡 Artist Fact: Dougherty told visiting Duke art students that he discovers the shape while building it: “You really do not know what the material can do.”

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsThe Big EasyPatrick Dougherty · 2017 · Duke Gardens, DurhamRed maple & sweetgumAbout 40 × 20 ft (artist)Built in about 3 weeks1It was woven from red maple and sweetgum saplings harvested in nearby Duke Forest.Patrick Dougherty (artist’s site)2Meant to last until 2019, it was reportedly taken down on 22 August 2018 after the saplings began to deteriorate in an unusually wet year.The Duke Chronicle2017FebArtist: built201718 MarDuke photo on Flickr2017FloraGardens magazine201728 SepWRAL: still up2017NovBlog photos201825 MarCommons photo, ours201810 MayWRAL: reinforced201822 AugRemovedRead the full file →