SUMMARY

Andrew Woodard is a sculptor, maker, and educator from Bloomington, Indiana whose work has been exhibited nationally and he has taught workshops nationally. Andrew and his wife previously owned an art studio in New Mexico where they ran a small gallery, workshop space, and 3D scanning business. He then took all of these multi-faceted skills to professionally share them with the community in Indiana.  Andrew is devoted to helping other artists gain confidence interfacing their work between the virtual and built worlds. His “Birds and Bees Project” encourages us to reimagine the potential for wildlife/human interaction and press the boundaries of art in a time of constant human incursion on the boundaries of the wild. “Life Tree” shows the potential for art to serve in human/animal cohabitation. The sculpture is designed so that a bird will eventually build a nest within the hole visible on the front.  Andrew believes that the sculpture will only be successful when that nest occurs.  The art is positioned back within the understory partly to appear as if it were naturally growing there and partly to give more privacy so that a bird will hopefully raise young there in the near future.

ABOUT THE SCULPTURE

Positive solution-making, creative design, and a reinterpretation of the public space are central themes in Andrew’s artwork. His Birds and Bees Project represents these ideas.  It beckons us to reimagine the potential for wildlife/human interaction and press the boundaries of art in a time of constant human incursion on the boundaries of the wild. Life Tree shows the potential for art to serve in human/animal cohabitation.

In recent years, Andrew has gravitated towards 3D printing, both directly and as molds. He chooses to work only with plastics that are either biodegradable or recycled materials. These plastics are inert.  Andrew feels that upcycling into bird nests and pollinator homes is a positive solution to lock away this material into something that can be useful and beautiful rather than ending up in an ocean. This medium allows for a greater and faster ability to prototype and experiment.  It is also an ideal candidate for “open source” democratization of this concept across the planet. Printing plastics allows for a great freedom of expression, opening doors to the creative process unattainable before this technology.

Andrew’s hope is to create designs that then can be openly shared to other groups for further printing, experimentation, and implementation. This current work rests connects with students of nature to relate and utilize this concept wherever they are, whether in the pristine nature of the Sculpture Forest or the concrete jungle of New York. Habitat creation and protection and pollination of plants is a universal need, regardless of place.

His Birds and Bees Project presents a different take on creating birdhouses and bee hotels which may entice younger citizens who are actively engaged in STEM programs and thinking. Solution-based thinking underlies the creation of Life Tree.  “Success” is based on successful interactivity and nesting. Andrew hopes that his experimental designs inspire others to push the envelope of how we interact with animals, nature, and materials.

ABOUT THE SCULPTOR

Andrew Woodard is a sculptor, maker, and educator from Bloomington, Indiana. His work has been exhibited nationally and he has taught workshops nationally. After what started as an MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, Andrew’s palette grew to include teaching and collaboration.

Andrew and his wife previously owned Process Art Studio in Madrid, NM.  There, they ran a small gallery, workshop space, and 3D scanning business. He then took all of these skills to professionally share them with the community in Indiana.  Having spent his life learning every trade and skill he can possibly get his hands on, he has taken a keen interest in how digital technology interfaces with analog making. Andrew is devoted to helping other artists gain confidence interfacing their work between the virtual and built worlds. He believes that artistic production and making are Rights, not a privilege relegated to a few.