Field Trip: The Donum Collection & Estate Balances Awe and Meditative moments
Photos by Robert Berg, Gregory Gorman, courtesy of the Donum; with additional photos by Annie Owens
Balancing awe and meditative moments, the sculptures of The Donum Collection populate a sprawling vineyard estate, with many works many commissioned expressly to respond to the lush landscape they inhabit. Seventy works of art, ranging from bronze sculptures by Yayoi Kusama and Botero, to stain glass structures to immersive mazes of metal and flora; the variety and curated placement of the works force even the most low attention-span art appreciator to take a deep visual exhale amidst the Donum’s pristine grounds.
Beforehand, we knew to expect to see large works like Jaume Plensa’s skewed head which welcomes you to the property. We looked forward to circling around Ai Weiwei’s ‘Zodiac Heads’, seeing Adam Parker’s squished classical figures, and would want to sniff Lynda Benglis’s appropriately-themed flower sculptures “Pink Ladies”. And while a Robert Indiana “Love” sculpture seems almost a given at large sculpture parks (you can also see one at The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis), all of these works alone make a visit worthwhile.
ABOVE: Yang Bao’s ‘HYPERSPACE’
But on our visit we were particularly impressed by a group of what we originally thought were “90s futurism-styled” geometric sculptures. It wasn’t until we progressed through the area, we realized that each appeared to emanate an ethereal sound track, which we were surprisingly moved by. Yang Bao’s ‘HYPERSPACE’ sculptures, situated in a sonic temple of sorts, house a “futuristic” space organ “that mirrors the changing environment, immersing guests in a sensory experience.”
Says Bao: ”Through this unique sound installation, I aim to capture the essence of Donum, evoking its subtle and emotive qualities. Guests can enjoy Donum wine surrounded by ever-changing sounds, carefully designed to create a spatial atmosphere. ‘HYPERSPACE’ encourages visitors to experience the land’s beauty with open senses, and to appreciate the connection between humans and nature.”
And in this case, the artist’s description, however lofty, completely delivers.
Amidst the perfectly preened “sensory garden” of lavender and vineyard rows, you’ll also discover other sculptures “growing” from the landscape:
There’s Pascale Marthine Tayou’s spiky ‘Mikado Tree’, Marc Quinn’s enormous bronze bonsai tree replica, the handmade flowers of ‘Crowded Bed’ by Rebecca Manson, competing for sunlight, and our favorite, which we almost missed, Douglas White’s “Black Palm”, an inconspicuously placed palm tree constructed from old car tires.
Says White: ”The idea for the work developed while I was working on a residency in Belize in the rainforest. There, when a palm tree has a disease, they burn it. You’ll be wandering through the forest, and there will be these black apparitions within the rainforest. Simultaneously to seeing that, I was driving around the country, and on the main roads, there are blown-out truck tires everywhere. That was the genesis of the project.”
You’ll find Black Palm appropriately next to the parking lot, in a row of exact sized living palms, but only if you pay attention.
Above: “Crouching Spider” by Louise Bourgeois
After a brief petting zoo moment with the resident donkeys and sheep (peanuts provided by friendly ground staff), we ended our visit in a solitary building off to the right.
Inside, another animal of sorts, with an entire building/lair to call its own. “Crouching Spider”, Louise Bourgeois’s first of her epic series of mother/spider sculptures is poised upon its pointed steel legs, as if waiting for its next visitor. All three of us could not help but be quiet, circling around its sharpened tendrils, avoiding “eye” contact, preferring to examine its body pocked with welding marks. Were the four or five dead spiders next to it we found an offering? After we noticed them, we heard the slightest clicking sound; like a rubbing of a studio microphone or underwater alien transmission. We’re not sure if it was part of a sound track or a security system, but it signaled to us it was time to leave the premises and head back out into the Sonoma sun.
NOTE: Don’t expect to picnic upon the grounds of this sculpture garden. While offering flights of wine pairings and selected tasting experiences, the estate does not allow outside food on its grounds. When you visit, you’ll fully understand why; the Donum Collection, while providing room for pensive viewing and visual breathing on its vast acreage, it is, unlike most sculpture gardens, an experience/symphony of artworks, with each note curated, and should be resected as such.
The Donum Collection and Estate is a reservation only experience. More info on visiting, tours and wine tasting can be found here.
Patti Warashina is a Pacific Northwest based artist known for her imaginative ceramic sculptures that are full of wit and sarcasm. At age 76, she does not stop inventing. Featured here on our blog, her clay figures are usually placed in fantasy environments, where she uses sculpture to explore such themes as the human condition, feminism, car-culture, and political and social topics.
Jonny Green's oil paintings of haphazardly-made sculptures are part portrait, part still life. The UK based painter, who lives and works in London, describes his work as a combination of the "carefree and painstaking", images of crudely built subjects made of a strange selection of items- modelling clay, office tape, flowers, Christmas lights, and whatever else is immediately available to him- which he then renders in incredibly meticulous detail.
Stephanie H. Shih's ceramic sculptures reflect on her upbringing as a first-generation Asian-American through “the lens of the Asian-American pantry.” The output ranges from hundreds and hundreds of porcelain dumplings to certain imported sauces and oils. With her work, she's also raised funds for communities across the U.S., from displaces indigenous tribes to hurricane victims.