Artist 20/20: Elizabeth Berrien

Now here's an artist I could really get into! She is a rarity and a master at what she does: wire sculpture. The brilliance of this medium is that is can transcend from almost 2d, to wall art, to 3d sculpture to architecture. Elizabeth Berrien is a relatively unknown artist who is quickly on the rise with commissions for public works for this and the following year.

Berrien's work is unlike anything I've seen before. I mean I've twisted a piece of wire into shapes but never once thought of taking it as a serious artform. Her work is so intricate and ranges so much in size that it's mind boggling trying to comprehend it. And her subject matter knows no limits either. As said before, being a rarity Berrien's was the first known 'wire art' to be commissioned and publically displayed. In 1985 the Louisville International Airport in Kentucky commissioned this Pegasus which is still on display and is the airports official mascot.

Well...typically her work pretains to organic shapes but she's sculpted animals, plants, people, and fantastical creatures. The wire particularly works in her favor. Just like a vine, every twist and curl of her medium looks as though it grew into place. Also, Berrien often takes the qualities of different types of wire into account. Most of her work is made with standard untreated wire. Occassionally though, she'll use a plastic coated wire to add color, or a polished/stainless wire for its reflective qualities when spotted with light.

3d reflective aluminum sculpture



2d wire illustration



More or less the 3-dimensional manifestation of Al Hirschfeld's work, Berrien's pieces appear as though to be composed from one continuous line (and in some cases they are). Some people find her artwork whimsical, as though compose from wind and air. Others find the transparency eerie, likening the wire to veins. Either way, Elizabeth's incredible expertise has earned her the nickname "Godmother of Wire" as it would seem that there's nothing she can't do.