Lives of Grass, Grass Figure Sculptures That Grow, Wither, and Die

“Lives of Grass” is a beautiful and ingenious sculpture series of human figures that are made out of soil and live grass. The sculptures have a life cycle, starting as bare soil, becoming green with grass, and then shaggy and brown when the grass dies (see the transformation below). The series is by French artist Mathilde Roussel.

Lives of Grass sculptures show the effects of transformation of the material as a metaphor of the transformation of the body. Time sculpts the forms, makes them change and then decay. The natural world, ingested as food becomes a component of human being. These sculptures strive to show that food, it’s origin, it’s transport, has an impact on us beyond it’s taste. The power inside it affects every organ of our body. Observing nature and being aware of what and how we eat might make us more sensitive to food cycles in the world – of abundance, of famine – and allows us to be physically, intellectually and spiritually connected to a global reality.

photos by Matthieu Raffard