Patrick Dougherty: The Stickman Cometh

In the early 1980s his love of nature, his evolving knowledge of primitive building techniques, and his carpentry skills combined to create a unique artistic form—he began to build sculptures using tree saplings as his material.

In 1982, his first work, Maple Body Wrap, was included in the NC Biennial Artists’ Exhibition, sponsored by the NC Museum of Art. The next year, he held his first one-person show, Waitin’ It Out in Maple, at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem. These early single pieces were conventional, pedestal-mounted works, but his vision quickly evolved into monumental-scale environmental works. These required saplings by the truckload.

Over the last thirty years, he has completed over 300 temporary, sight-specific works. He has achieved international acclaim, and his art can be seen across the United States and worldwide—from Japan to Brussels. Locally, his work is featured at the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens in Fayetteville, the NC Museum of Life and Science in Durham, and the Sara P. Duke Gardens at Duke University.

He is the author of Stickwork, an artist’s monograph published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2009, and his work and career are featured in books published in France, Italy, and Germany. Over sixty periodical articles featuring his sculptures have appeared in American publications ranging from local newspapers to national-circulation magazines.

His work can be enjoyed on his website: www.stickwork.net.