Antony Gormley SPROUT, 2019

Formed from cast iron, SPROUT (2019) belongs to Antony Gormley’s Rooter series, made between 2017 and 2019. The series takes inspiration from the root hairs that stretch across the spaces between sand, rock and loam in natural ecology systems. The artist describes these searching hairs as ‘about the most tender thing you can find; it allows the system to gather its energy from the environment.’ Crucially, he says, ‘I love a root as a metaphor, but also what it is as a system.’

Brought into dialogue with the human body, this notion of the root describes a process of exploration undertaken by bodies as they explore their corporeal boundaries and relationship to the surrounding environment. As Gormley explains, the Rooter sculptures have ‘single roots that explore the limbs and torso as singular pathways.’ These extending forms are conceived as ‘hooks as much as they are tendrils’, allowing the body to interrogate the space around it. SPROUT depicts a human figure laid on its back with its stepped legs extending into the air and tapering to a unified point. The pose of the body echoes the structural form of a tree, evoking another lifeform that engages in systems of exploration through its roots as they penetrate the ground and make contact with the earth.