People Made of Plants (10 Photos)

October 20, 2026

By Vidar

Figures made of plants

Willow, moss, grass, rice, straw and one patiently trained tree: ten figures built from plants. Some were woven, some were planted, and a few are still growing.

🏹 Spirit of the Medieval Huntress — By Anna & The Willow at Skipton Castle Woods, England 🇬🇧

Anna Cross’s nine-foot willow archer draws her bow beside the path through Skipton Castle Woods. The Woodland Trust commissioned her and The Stalking Horse in 2018 to recall the wood’s past as a larder and hunting ground for Skipton Castle.

💡 Frame Fact: The willow is woven over a hand-forged steel frame made by local blacksmith Adam Crane. Willow does not last forever outdoors, and in 2024 Sylvan Skills rebuilt the frames and rewove both sculptures; this photo shows the original weave.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsThe HuntressAnna Cross · 2018 · Skipton Castle WoodsWoven willowNine feet tall (artist)1Phil Champion photographed the archer in place in Skipton Castle Woods on 14 October 2018.Phil Champion / Geograph2According to Sylvan Skills, Ruth Thompson redesigned the figure in 2024; the account was published 16 September 2024.Sylvan Skills201814 OctPhotographed by Phil Champion201921 MayPhotographed by Tim Ball20215 JulArtist interview published202411 JunPhoto and wear report published202416 SepRedesign account published202623 JunNew woodland photo publishedMore photos2018 Full side view of the original HuntressPhoto: Phil Champion / Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0)Read the full file →

🔗 Follow Anna & The Willow on Instagram

🌿 Mud Maid — By Sue and Pete Hill at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, England 🇬🇧

The Mud Maid sleeps on the floor of Heligan’s Woodland Walk, her body covered in ivy, with moss creeping over her face. Sister and brother Sue and Pete Hill made her in 1997, and grass, ivy and moss grow and wither on her through the year. The two photos show her in summer and under snow.

💡 Name Fact: She was first planned as a mermaid. According to My Modern Met, the tail was dropped after a member of the restoration team called her a “mud maid.”

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsMud MaidSue and Pete Hill · Lost Gardens of Heligan, CornwallWoodland WalkMade 1997 (My Modern Met)1According to My Modern Met, she was shaped on a wooden frame made from scraps found on the estate.My Modern Met2Heligan says re-using materials from the estate reflects how the Mud Maid and Giant’s Head were made.Lost Gardens of Heligan201630 MayPhotographed by Daderot202011 JunMy Modern Met on how she was made202522 JulVisit report with photo · Walking Ways20252 OctHeligan names her makersRead the full file →

More: Mud Maid – Living sculpture by Sue and Pete Hill

🔗 Visit the Lost Gardens of Heligan

🌳 A Tree Grown Into a Person — By Pooktre (Peter Cook and Becky Northey)

Nothing here was carved. The tree was shaped as it grew into two legs and two raised arms, and the branches above became the hair. According to the photo’s description, the tree was planted in 1998 and photographed in 2009.

💡 Tree Shaping Fact: In Australia, Peter Cook and Becky Northey refined their own techniques for shaping trees into figures of people, chairs and mirror frames.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsPerson TreePeter Cook and Becky Northey (Pooktre)Grown, not carvedPlanted 1998 (Commons note)1LawnStarter describes Pooktre as gradual tree shaping, with trunks or branches trained to grow together.LawnStarter2Atlas Obscura says the pair shape trees into people, chairs and mirror frames.Atlas Obscura2009Photographed by Pooktre201713 DecAtlas Obscura shows the photo202429 AprLawnStarter credits the makersRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Pooktre (uploaded by Blackash) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

🔗 Visit Pooktre’s website

🌺 Earth Goddess — By Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, Georgia, USA 🇺🇸

About 25 feet tall and covered in roughly 17,000 plants, the Earth Goddess rises from the Cascades Garden and lets water run from her hand. She arrived in May 2013 from Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal in 23 fully planted pieces for the Imaginary Worlds exhibition, and the garden kept her in its permanent collection.

💡 Garden Fact: Her hollow body holds the irrigation system, split into 13 zones so the gardeners can water different parts, such as the fingertips, separately. She is sheared about every two weeks to keep her shape defined.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsEarth GoddessMosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal · 2013 · Atlanta Botanical Garden25 feet tallCascades Garden18,000 annuals (garden)1Welders built her frame from thin rods and sheet steel, covered it with a liner and filled it with soil.Atlanta Botanical Garden2According to Atlanta magazine, she came from Montreal in 23 fully planted pieces and was craned into place.Atlanta magazine201427 JunPhotographed by Eric Yarnell202319 MayAtlanta magazine: 10 years old202628 AprVisitor account · Grantham Garden ClubRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Eric Yarnell / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🌬️ Stillness in Motion — By Olga Ziemska in Orońsko, Poland 🇵🇱

The body is made of stacked branch ends, and the long sweep of willow behind it reads like hair pulled sideways by the wind. Olga Ziemska’s project page dates the work to 2002, at the Centre of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko, made from locally reclaimed willow branches.

💡 Series Fact: It was the first work in her Matka series. “Matka” means “mother” in Polish, and she has since built the figure in other countries from trees that grow native to each place.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsStillness in MotionOlga Ziemska · 2012 · Hanbat Arboretum, DaejeonBamboo, wire, metal armatureProject Daejeon 2012Matka Series no. 21Commissioned by the Daejeon Museum of Art for the outdoor exhibition Project Daejeon 2012: Energy, according to the artist.artist’s page, archived2The museum lists Ziemska in the exhibition’s in-situ art project at Hanbat Arboretum, shown 19 September to 18 November 2012.DMA201219 SepMuseum record: show opens201220 SepHelloDD on the show201218 NovMuseum record: show ends201315 FebIgnant: artist’s photosRead the full file →

🔗 Follow Olga Ziemska on Instagram

🧚 Windfee — By Barbara Jamin Sassmannshausen in Bingen, Germany 🇩🇪

A life-size “wind fairy” woven from willow rods stands by the river in Bingen. The loose ends of her hair and skirt are left sticking out behind her, so she looks as if she is walking into a strong gust.

More: Windfee by Barbara Jamin Sassmannshausen

🗿 Giant’s Head — By Sue and Pete Hill at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, England 🇬🇧

The Hills’ second figure at Heligan is only a head, half sunk into the woodland with grass for skin and plants for hair. It was built around the root stock of old oaks that were uprooted in the Great Storm of 1990.

💡 Repair Fact: The roots inside eventually rotted, and according to My Modern Met a 2012 renovation gave the head a steel frame. Its hair is crocosmia, which turns it red-haired in summer.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsGiant’s HeadSue and Pete Hill · Lost Gardens of Heligan, CornwallWoodland WalkMade 1997 (My Modern Met)1According to My Modern Met, the Hills took about three weeks, spreading local clay over a fallen tree’s root ball.My Modern Met2A visitor in July 2025 said the Giant’s Head put smiles on their faces on the way out.Walking Ways201630 MayPhotographed by Daderot202011 JunMy Modern Met on how it was made202522 JulVisit report · Walking Ways20252 OctHeligan names its makersRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Daderot / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

👑 A Straw King and Queen — Dülmen, Germany 🇩🇪

Round straw bales for heads and bodies, a red top and a white shirt, a crown and a top hat. This couple stood in a field in Daldrup, part of Dülmen’s Kirchspiel district, in May 2015. The sign beside them names them as the “Königspaar,” Daniela and Thomas: the year’s king and queen of a local Schützenfest, the marksmen’s festival held in many German villages.

📷 Photo: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons (“Dülmen, Kirchspiel, Strohfiguren — 2015 — 5793”, CC BY-SA 4.0)

🚶 Willow Man — By Serena de la Hey near Bridgwater, England 🇬🇧

Drivers on the M5 in Somerset have passed this 40-foot striding man of black willow, standing in a field just south of junction 23, since 2000; this photo shows him in 2011. The first one burned down in an arson attack in May 2001; Serena de la Hey rebuilt him that October, and a moat was dug around him.

💡 Update: By late 2023, Somerset Council described the sculpture as “barely recognisable” and started a feasibility study, funded by National Highways, into repairing him and possibly moving him to a new site. By 2024, little more than his steel frame was left.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsWillow ManSerena de la Hey · 2000 · beside the M5, BridgwaterMillennium commissionRebuilt after 2001 arson1He was commissioned by South West Arts to mark the millennium, celebrating Somerset Levels willow.Somerset Council2According to the Somerset Leveller, a 2023 study floated a steel successor up to 15.3 metres tall; no funded proposal has come forward.Somerset Leveller201127 MayPhotographed intact by Anthony Parkes202324 NovCouncil: “barely recognisable”202426 SepITV: serious disrepair202622 FebRebuild still unfundedRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Anthony Parkes / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

🌾 Ebisu and Daikokuten — Rice Paddy Art in Inakadate, Japan 🇯🇵

Every line here is a growing rice plant. In 2008 the village of Inakadate planted Ebisu and Daikokuten, two of Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods, using rice varieties whose leaves come up in different colors. Ebisu holds his fish; the house at the edge of the field shows the scale.

💡 Village Fact: Inakadate began its rice paddy art in 1993 to bring the village back to life. The designs are planned on computers, and a 22-meter mock castle tower at the village office lets visitors see the whole picture.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsEbisu and DaikokutenInakadate village · 2008 · Inakadate, Aomori143 × 104 m (Aomori blog)Seasonal planting1The village official in charge says 2008 was the first year white was added to the rice palette.Daily Portal Z2Aomori’s tourism blog says the theme carried a wish for economic recovery and a bright future.Aomori Tourism20084 JulSponsor logo uprooted · Pink Tentacle200831 JulPhotographed by yawning hunter20081 AugLocal visitor’s first viewing200821 AugAomori tourism report20178 MarRecalled as the 2008 designRead the full file →