Organic sculptures by Steve Tobin at Houston Botanic Garden

February 22, 2023

When I fled to Houston during Austin’s ice storm aftermath earlier this February, I made a visit with family to Houston Botanic Garden. Even in Zone 9 Houston, winter had not spared palms, grasses, and many other plants. Still, an art exhibit by Steve Tobin called Intertwined: Exploring Nature’s Networks, plus the garden’s subtle winter beauty, made for a pleasant stroll.

Clouds

Tobin’s Clouds series was my favorite of the exhibit. Lumpy mirrored steel capsules on plinths float over tawny grasses, reflecting the blue sky and cottony clouds.

Viewed head-on, this one takes on anthropomorphic qualities. I see a prone human figure, its head in the foreground, lying in the grass and gazing up at the sky.

Dry garden

While we’re in the dry garden, let’s take a moment to appreciate grasses in their tawny winter hue, with antler-like cholla beyond.

Golden barrel cacti adding a little winter color

Wheeler’s sotol, Yucca rostrata, prickly pear, and big blue agaves perched like mermaids on rocks — a surprising amount of desert garden goodness in swampy Houston!

Some of the prickly pears have collapsed from that cold spell in December, but they’ll be OK. The freeze-browned palms? I’m not sure about those, but hope so.

Lots of bristling round plants

One more salute to the Wheeler’s sotol

An oval pond, with sad palms

Bronze Roots

One of Steve Tobin’s Bronze Roots sculptures adds tentacley vibes to the dry garden.

Another one makes a rooty focal point in the culinary garden. It’s underplanted with minty Aztec grass (or variegated liriope) and red-flowering bromeliads for a color echo.

Culinary garden

The culinary garden’s mint-green water wall, with water-loving papyrus growing at the base

Along the back of the wall, painted putty-pink, fruit trees are espaliered on a bamboo grid. In the raised beds, lettuces look ready to be turned into salads.

Steelroots

A monumental Steelroots, another of Tobin’s sculptures, appears to dance on the lawn at the end of an entry path.

Shade arcade

It wasn’t particularly hot on this early February day, but I always enjoy the Space Age design of the long shade arcade. Planted pockets green up the creamy stone wall.

Ming fern and ‘Soft Caress’ mahonia make a textural pairing.

One more view

Butterfly vine shows off its butterfly-shaped seedpods.

Nest

In the garden, a Nest sculpture by Tobin has a gazing-globe quality, making for a fun selfie.

Twisties

Tobin’s Twisties adds colorful, upright squiggles to an open lawn. The black-stained structure is a hands-on, exploratory place for children called a curiosity cabinet.

Curiosity cabinet

Inside, cut grasses, trailing plants, and shells offer a tactile nature experience for kids.

In another cabinet we found animal bones, antlers, and even a tiny framed bat.

Lots of interesting items to pick up and examine

Syntax

Tobin’s Syntax sculpture — thousands of metal letters encrusted into a vortexing orb — caught my eye.

The verdigris letters appear to whorl into the vortex.

What is it trying to say — or spell out?

What an interesting body of work! Steve Tobin’s Intertwined exhibit at Houston Botanic Garden runs through August 13th.

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Digging Deeper

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Experience the Surreal Garden at Zilker Botanical Garden, an enchanting neon-art display throughout the gardens, with food and drink, music and dancing, surreal performers, and interactive art sculptures. Surreal costumes encouraged! 25% of event proceeds benefit the Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy. Runs April 6 (VIP Night), April 7-8, and April 13-15, from 6:30 pm to 11 pm.

All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

17 responses to “Organic sculptures by Steve Tobin at Houston Botanic Garden”

  1. Robert Beyer says:

    First time I have seen any pictures of Houston Botanical Garden. So sad to see the hit that many of the plants and palms took overwinter. Very happy that Houston at long last has a quality botanical garden. Thanks for sharing the pics.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Hi Bob, thanks for visiting. Yeah, HBG took a hit this winter, but I suspect most of it will recover. You can find several other posts I’ve written about HBG on my Must-See Gardens page; just scroll down to TEXAS, and the gardens are listed alphabetically.

  2. Kris P says:

    Thanks for the tour, Pam! Much as I loved the mirrored structures, I think I’m even more fond of the Nest creation, perhaps because it also seems replicable on a non-professional scale.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      A Nest sculpture would be amazing in a home garden, wouldn’t it? I also wonder whether Austin’s gardeners couldn’t fashion some Root-like sculptures from all their ice-damaged tree branches. 😉

  3. Jim says:

    Being a fan of typography, I LOVE that Syntax sculpture. We have a Roots sculpture here in Buffalo. And those cloud sculptures look like they should be in a science fiction movie!

  4. Nancy Bunyard says:

    My husband and I have plans to visit the HBG next week. Your review is very timely! Looking forward to seeing these wonderful sculptures and those gorgeous Golden Barrels. (I suspect those palms will resurrect with warmer weather.)

  5. Paula Stone says:

    You have inspired me. Remember the 4 little ‘huts’ on my north fenceline? Two are tool sheds but the east one will now be a ‘curiosity cabinet’. I have one in my house, but a garden one is a great idea. Now all my special rocks, dead butterflies, cool animal bones, seed pods and wood knots will have their own special place! Thanks, Pam!

    • Pam/Digging says:

      All credit to HBG. I’m happy to share other people’s great ideas. 😉 And I think it’s perfect for one of your huts, Paula.

  6. Lisa at Greenbow says:

    ThT is some fantastic art. I like the mirrors too.

  7. Chavli says:

    The dry garden is done so well: the paths, rocks and gravel dressing… I saw chrysalis in those fabulous “cloud” sculptures. The Shade Arcade is an amazing structure which I appreciate even more as a shade loving person, and that Curiosity Cabinet is something I wouldn’t mind in my own garden.
    An inspiring botanical garden, not at all swampy 😀

    • Pam/Digging says:

      So true — the garden is not swampy. Houston is! 😉 I’m glad you enjoyed the pics, Chavli.

  8. latoya says:

    My family came to visit over the holidays and I decided to check out the gardens with them..as an art lover, I think I paid more attention to the art than the gardens to be honest, lol. Something about enjoying the art in the outdoors and surrounded by the green was very cool. Did you go when they also had the lego exhibit?

    • Pam/Digging says:

      I agree that it’s nice to enjoy art in the outdoors. And when the garden and art work really well together, it’s magical. I did see the Lego art exhibit, but I confess it wasn’t really my thing. Maybe if I’d gone with young kids it would have had greater resonance.