Display it and let it degrade

“Gathering My Thoughts” (Ohio-grown willow), by Laura Ellen Bacon, at the Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Mass., through Oct. 12, 2026.

— Photo by Derek Hansen

The museum says:

Ms. Bacon “weaves her sculptures from slender strands of willow. Gradually, twist by twist, she builds an enormous form with a complex interior structure. The technique is entirely original to her, but has affinities with such rural English crafts as fences, baskets, and thatching, as well as the nests and burrows of birds and other animals. Bacon has conceived her work for the Clark as a record of its own making: each of the overlapping volumes represents one day of her skilled labor. Together, they accumulate into an organic shape, like an outgrowth of the woodland floor. She enjoys the fact that the sculpture may become a habitat for insects and other creatures. Because it is made entirely from natural materials, it will be disassembled and allowed to degrade into the forest floor.’’