By the Yard: Dresses in the Garden

Idaho artist Crystal Gough has assembled five sculptures on site in BAM’s Sculpture Garden, each a tribute to a female who has profoundly impacted the artist’s life. Gough uses natural and salvaged materials to create life-size dress forms, which trace each woman’s connection to the earth.  By allowing the sculptures to age naturally in BAM’s outdoor Sculpture Garden, the artist also reflects on the cycle of life–birth, growth, change, and finally the acceptance of death. Together these sculptures embody both the traditionally feminine themes of giving, nurturing, and protecting, as well as the unique characteristics she admires in her friends, including humor, serenity, wisdom, honesty, and magic.

Organized by the Boise Art Museum