Art That Grows From the Earth (9 Photos)
Content warning: Which one is your favorite?
From quiet forest goddesses to surreal illusions that blend wood, stone, and trees—these 9 outdoor sculptures don’t just sit in nature, they become part of it. In this collection, you’ll discover sculptures in Illinois and Switzerland, on Belgian lawns and British gardens. Some hold trees gently in their palms, others appear to rest beneath layers of snow. All of them invite us to see the land as canvas, collaborator, and living presence.
More: 8 Inspiring Sculptures Seamlessly Integrated with Nature
1. Hallow — Daniel Popper’s Sculpture in Lisle, Illinois, USA
A monumental female figure made of wood-like textures stands with closed eyes and hands gently parting her chest. The sculptural body is open at the center, allowing viewers to walk through her, as though being embraced by nature itself. Springtime trees and blooming pink flowers surround her.
More: 5 Photos of Sculpture “Hallow” By Daniel Popper in Lisle, Illinois
2. Mud Maid — Sculpture by Sue Hill in Cornwall, UK
This moss-covered figure of a woman rests on the forest floor at The Lost Gardens of Heligan. Her face is sculpted from clay and softened by time, while her hair and body are formed from earth and living plants, changing with the seasons—from green to snow-covered.
More: Mud Maid – Living sculpture by Sue and Pete Hill (5 photos and video)
3. Give — Lorenzo Quinn’s Sculpture Holding a Tree
Two white sculpted hands emerge from the grass, gently cupping a living tree. The hands appear soft despite their size, turning the act of holding into a symbol of care and responsibility.
4. Clothespin — Mehmet Ali Uysal’s Sculpture in Chaudfontaine, Belgium
A giant wooden clothespin appears to pinch and pull the ground itself. Cleverly designed and installed in a grassy field, the sculpture creates the illusion that the land is a soft fabric being gathered and held.
🔗 Follow Mehmet Ali Uysal on Instagram
5. Caring Hand — Eva Oertli & Beat Huber in Glarus, Switzerland
This large white hand sculpture gently cradles a tree in the middle of a lush green park. With careful shaping and scale, the sculpture blends seamlessly into its surroundings, turning a simple tree into the heart of a nurturing gesture.
More: The Caring Hand – Sculpture in Glarus, Switzerland by Eva Oertli and Beat Huber
6. I’m Home!
This painted face, embedded directly onto the exposed heart of a tree, transforms bark into canvas. The artwork is visible only within a natural wound in the trunk, where the human face seems both protected and revealed by the tree itself.
7. UMI — Daniel Popper’s Sculpture in Chicago, Illinois, USA
A towering woman, constructed with intertwined “roots” and gentle hands, emerges from the ground. Her chest and hair are woven with wooden tendrils, making her appear as if she’s grown from the soil beneath her.
More: “UMI” Sculpture by Daniel Popper in Lisle, Illinois
8. Flower Tube
A sculpture of a paint tube lies on the grass, appearing to squeeze out a trail of vivid orange marigolds.
9. Musco — Minwear Woods, Wales
In the heart of Minwear Woods, leaves, moss, and soil become canvases for land artist Jon Foreman. More!: 10 Forest Sculptures By Jon Foreman
🔗 Follow Jon Foreman on Instagram
More: When Street Art Meets Nature (40 Photos)
Which one is your favorite?
Buildings That Look Like They’re From a Dream (8 Photos)
From a church in Iceland that looks like a spaceship preparing for launch, to a house zipped open on a street in Milan — this collection showcases architecture at its most imaginative. Included are cliffside wartime refuges, storybook cottages, optical illusions, and centuries-old constructions that defy gravity or blend perfectly into mountains. These aren’t digital renderings — they’re real places from around the world.
More: 8 Beautiful Artworks That Seem to Grow From Nature
1. Unzipped Building — Alex Chinneck in Milan, Italy
A building facade appears to peel open like a jacket, with an oversized zipper curling away the wall to reveal its inner structure. This public installation by Alex Chinneck uses stone, concrete, and illusion to challenge how we perceive architecture.
2. King Alfred’s Tower — England
This red-brick triangular tower rises dramatically from the fog in Somerset, England. Built in 1772, it commemorates Alfred the Great and reaches over 49 meters high with a narrow footprint that adds to its illusion of impossibility.
3. Alpine Refuge — Monte Cristallo, Italy
Located at 2,760 meters in the Dolomites, this hidden wooden shelter from World War I is embedded directly into the rockface. Built for survival, it now appears like a dreamlike relic barely distinguishable from the mountain.
4. Hallgrímskirkja Church — Reykjavík, Iceland
This iconic Lutheran church, inspired by basalt columns and volcanic formations, dominates the Reykjavík skyline. Designed in 1937 and completed in 1986, its symmetry and scale evoke science fiction architecture.
5. The House That Sank — The Crooked House, UK
Built in 1765 on top of a mine shaft, this British pub developed a pronounced tilt as the ground beneath it slowly gave way. Despite its slanting angles, it remained a local favorite for centuries.
6. Organic Slate Roof House — Germany
This home with flowing lines and a wave-shaped slate roof blurs the line between fairy tale and high-end eco-architecture. Natural stone and soft curves give it a whimsical yet grounded appearance.
7. Cliff House — France (Built 1347)
Balanced between eras and gravity, this timber-framed upper house sits atop massive medieval stonework. Located in France and completed in 1347, it seems to hover above the road with support beams stretching underneath.
8. Rock-Built Homes — Sanaa, Yemen
Traditional Yemeni tower houses in Sanaa rise directly from the rock, combining ancient stone masonry with ornate white geometric window frames. The buildings appear both sculpted by nature and intricately human-made.These buildings bend our expectations of what architecture can be — not just structures, but expressions of ingenuity, adaptation, and creativity. Whether carved into mountains or dressed like zippers, they show that the line between surreal and real is thinner than it seems.
More: 30 Sculptures You (probably) Didn’t Know Existed
Which one is your favorite?
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