Art of the vine: Ledyard sculptor uses vineyard scraps
Stonington — As the wind blew across the field earlier this month, Robert Greene wanted to make sure he could put the finishing touches on his sculpture at Stonington Vineyards before the cold snap set in later in the week. The onset of the New England winter, however, eventually will become part of his art installation at the vineyard.
Greene, who grew up in East Hampton and now lives in Ledyard, is an assistant professor of sculpture at Eastern Connecticut State University. He constructed “Ephemeral” using vines and other cuttings from the vineyard on Taugwonk Road. The 30-foot figure, designed to look like a female form lying on her side, is suspended across the rows of grapevines.
The idea first came to him a few years ago while drinking a glass of wine at the vineyard, where his wife works part time.
“I was looking out here, just looking out at the vines when they were green, and I thought, ‘How interesting would it be to create one of my outdoor installations,’” he said, “'but using the negative space and creating from the very vines they were clipped from and creating this female form.'”
The vineyard, which houses another sculpture of Greene’s in the tasting room, was supportive of his idea and clipped all the vines he would need. For the actual construction, he gave most of the credit for the project to fellow faculty member Allison Conley and students in the visual arts club at Eastern. The students were at the vineyard Dec. 10 to set up about three-quarters of the sculpture. Greene finished the last details on Dec. 16.
In constructing “Ephemeral,” Greene wanted to explore the use of space by elevating the sculpture instead of having it sit on the ground. The sculpture is a half-relief with no base other than the posts of the grapevine rows, which creates negative space and a bit of a gravitational challenge with the weight and density of the piece. Vines are woven together to look like a partial profile view of a woman’s head, shoulder and hips when viewed from afar.
Over the next few months, trail cameras will take photos of the sculpture every 10 minutes, which will be put together in a documentary to capture the process of decay.
“I’ve done a few other of these types of sculptures where they basically are impermanent and they’re made to kind of thrive for a while and then die off, being reclaimed by nature,” he said. “We get some heavy winds here, and it’ll be interesting to watch.”
As an abstract figurative sculptor who works primarily with wood, Greene said he draws a lot of inspiration from the human condition, especially the power of the brain. His temporary outdoor installations, which aren’t designed to last, are a reminder of human mortality. Some of his pieces are influenced by his father’s battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called ALS and Lou Gehrig's disease.
“Watching that disease progress, it was awful, and that inspires a lot of this work,” he said. “It’s about this chaos that makes us who we are.”
“Ephemeral” will be on display during winery hours, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, until late April. Stonington Vineyards is located at 523 Taugwonk Road.
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