Preening Whitetail Monument. Courtesy photo
Ursus Monument. Courtesy photoSFBG News:
SANTA FE ― Fauna meets flora in the Santa Fe Botanical Garden’s 7th annual sculpture exhibit, Gardens Gone Wild, where works by award-winning sculptor Dan Ostermiller will be on display May 26, 2018 through May 13, 2019.
Opening events 10 a.m. to noon May 26 include an artist walk-through.
Visitors strolling the Garden’s paths may encounter a golden eagle in flight or two bears wrestling among the high desert foliage. From a Preening White Tail to Ursus – a nine-foot tall standing bear – Ostermiller’s delightful menagerie of New Mexico’s mammals, birds and reptiles should enchant young and old alike.
The dynamic backdrop of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, with the changing light, seasonal colors, moving clouds and morphing shadows, make the Santa Fe Botanical Garden an ideal setting for more than 20 of Ostermiller’s sculptures.
“There are a lot of nice intimate areas. I really like that with some of the pieces it allows the piece to become part of the environment and makes for a really nice experience for the viewer,” Ostermiller said.
During the past 40 years, Ostermiller has developed a profound body of work populated by charismatic animals, cast in bronze, capturing their gestures and charm in a masterful way.
“I believe for everyone, there is an undeniable moment of connection to the imagined life of animals created in bronze by Dan Ostermiller,” said Nedra Matteucci, owner of Nedra Matteucci Galleries, one of this year’s sponsor. “Their stillness is impressively alive; the energy of each sculpture flows with individual character and movement that Dan captures faithfully and with certainty.”
Other than the actual bronze pour at the foundry, Ostermiller performs each step of the bronze casting process from conception through completion in his Loveland, Colo., studio. His work bears a quality of personal detail and attention, including beautiful patinas that are selected and refined for each piece.
Ostermiller is a fellow and served as first Vice-President of the National Sculpture Society and is a member of the Society of Animal Artists and Allied Artists of America. His award-winning works have been honored with many solo exhibitions around the U.S. and are held within the permanent collections of major museums. In 2000, he split his time between Loveland and a studio at the Fondation de Coubertin in Saint Remy-Les Chevreuse, France, highly regarded for its history and affiliation with the Musee Rodin, the foundry and atelier where many works by Auguste Rodin have been cast.
