2024 edition, Permanent art work
Jardin des plantes
L’Homme de bois
Fabrice Hyber

Made out of wood from trees in Nantes, this colossal figure drips with water which gradually results in a natural patina onto which moss and ferns will grow.

Fabrice Hyber is a trained scientist and artist who sees his body of work like a giant rhizome, where multiple disciplines dialogue. To renovate the botanical collections of the Armorican Massif – a little-known (but vital) facet of the Jardin des Plantes – Hyber was commissioned to create a totemic work: L’Homme de bois, a 6.09 m/20-foot-tall sculpture.

The seeping moisture and stream jetting out of its mouth provide water for a basin protecting the botanical abundance of a local wetland with rare, protected species such as the Estuary Angelica, the Three-square Bulrush, the Marsileia, and Fritillaria.

Fabrice Hyber was born in Luçon in 1961. He lives and works in La Vallée.

Co-produced with the “Nature et Jardins”  Department of the City of Nantes.

The botanical garden

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