All images in issue, unless otherwise noted, are photographs of sculptures, site-specific
installations, and their details, done by Nancy Winship Milliken, and occasionally, with her
collaborators. Photos courtesy of the artist.

Defining her sculpture as “contemporary pastoralism” Nancy Winship
Milliken is inspired by our age-old relationship to nature as a way to
consider ecological questions in the present. She creates environmental
and site-specific sculptures in both urban and rural settings using natural
materials like sheep’s wool or earth/clay from pasture fields surrounding
the studio. Her design is based around the principle of keeping materials
close to their original state with the goal of transforming the viewer, not the
materials. The sculptures interact with the environment and are activated
by ephemeral forces such as wind, rain, and sun, calling attention to the
textures, odors, and movement of natural materials composed in formally
simple structures. The work ultimately addresses complex issues involved
in sustainable living. Much of the work is made in collaboration with
farmers, artisans, poets and environmental studies interns from universities
all over the nation. The studio culture creates the space and time for
mentoring creative environmental leadership.
As an environmental artist working in all different mediums with the
common theme of a reverence for this earth, Winship Milliken explores
methods and techniques to try to find a language of love that might
strengthen our relationship or connection to the land. The practice of the
studio is as much about process as it is about object. From finding and
harvesting materials, to molding, weaving, burning into form, her hands
and senses come to “know” the material intimately. The different smells,
textures, and raw sensation of making the form(s) is all a part of informing
the outcome of the work. She trusts that the inherent beauty of the
materials in their natural state will come through, no matter what
form they are put in.