Dan Ladd at the MacLeish Field Station

The MacLeish Field Station is the perfect studio for botanic sculptor Dan Ladd. Ladd, artist in residence at MacLeish, says that his work with trees and plants is “collaborative.” “I make an unusual art that uses living, growing plant material as an art medium,” he says. Stemming from a lifelong interest in botany and art, Ladd grafts branches of trees to create sculptural forms; fuses metal, glass and plastic inclusions into trees and other plant life; and molds roots to form shapes and written pieces. Here he talks about some of his works at MacLeish and his approach to art.