Artist Patrick Dougherty chose to experiment and go with a rather unusual approach when it came to his art. His love for nature and sculpture led him to a form of art that combines large scale installations with nature. Recently he has placed one of his latest works in Melbourne’s Federation Square, a Willow Cathedral made out of 10 tonne of willow tree branches. Inspired by Flinders street station and St. Paul’s Cathedral, Patrick has weaved the tree saplings into a structure that embodies the idea of natural and recycling as well, because the willow tree is considered in the state of Victoria, Australia a weed that has to be exterminated.
The merge between the natural, organic, fluid and the static expressed an unusual form of art, a connection between man and his surroundings. This idea was also accentuated by positioning of this installation into a modern ambient, surrounded by contemporary designs. This chosen ground expresses the communion between the sacred and the profane represented by the concrete-steel intrusive buildings that live in the square and have transformed it along the years.A risky experiment in our opinion, an unusual interaction proposed that might get many controversy in he future. But despite the philosophical part of the project, the artist has managed to create a beautiful form of art, expressed in an attractive shape that intrigues the pedestrian and makes you wonder what boundaries really are and if you can really create a sacred space in a profane world.
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