In the Garden and Beyond the Sky by Ivan Barnett

Acclaimed folk artist Ivan Barnett back to roots with sculptures for garden. Folk art gets a distinctly contemporary turn when Santa Fe’s own Ivan Barnett presents his new sculptures for the garden.
 
I started making sculpture for the garden in about 1976, says Barnett, whose first studio was in rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The influence of Amish country folk art resurfaces today in his Beyond the Sky series. I’ve gone from literal to not literal, he says. My latest work is far from Pennsylvania German because the abstract shapes are more interesting to me now from a design standpoint.

The new garden pieces are from the same materials Barnett has used for almost half a century, thin-gauged steel and primary colors. He hand cuts his shapes and moves them as if arranging a puzzle. He layers the thin metal bits and, once the story emerges in the collage, he rivets the pieces in place. A coat of flat black unifies the elements while exacting touches of bold color add playful definition.
The artist combines conceptual metal pieces with stylized forms of the people and animals that mill around the garden. His timing is perfect – Mother’s Day, when Santa Fe gardeners get ready to plant.

Barnett is donating a portion of sales to the Nature Conservancy for the Santa Fe Canyon Preserve.