Luminescent Zip-Tie Formations Are Shaped into Futuristic Organic Life by Artist Elisabeth Picard

“Ondulation” (2014), white zip-ties, RGB LED light, and painted plywood, 
36 x 36 x 6 ¼ inches. 
Photo by Michel Dubreuil. All images © Elisabeth Picard, shared with permission

Montreal-based artist Elisabeth Picard curls, fans, and locks together hundreds of zip-ties into tremendously formed glowing sculptures and undulating installations. The futuristic artworks merge geological and organic elements with science fiction to create abstract formations that the artist likens to “landscapes, minerals, plants, micro-organisms, and sea creatures.”
Picard tells Colossal that since she began working with the nylon links in 2011, she’s used more than 60,000 ties. The artist hand-dyes each piece with pastels, earth tones, and sometimes fluorescent hues that will later glow under UV light and add depth with shadows. Some artworks even are assembled with a lightbox backdrop. Each glowing piece is designed to elucidate the contrast between the original material and the final structures, and numeric art, vector drawing, programming, and 3D printing all guide her research.
Find more of Picard’s artworks that consider the future of the natural world on Instagram and Vimeo.

“Evolution” (2015), 
dyed zip-ties with plexi lightbox, 
20.5 x 21.5 x 6 inches. Photo by 
Michel Dubreuil

“Volute 1 et Volute 2” (2013), 
dyed zip-ties, 
7 x 7 x 7 and 7 x 8.5 x 8.5 inches. 
Photo by Michel Dubreuil

“Flot” (2011), 
15, 000 zip-ties, glass, painted steel, and fluorescent light, 
28.25 x 76.5 x 38.5 inches. Photo by Michel Dubreuil

“Chlorophyta” (2015), dyed zip-ties with plexi lightbox, 
18.43 x 18.43 x 9.37 inches
. Photo by Michel Dubreuil

Left: “Navicula” (2015), 
dyed zip-ties and plexi plate
, 12 x 7 x 5.5 inches
. Photo by Michel Dubreuil. Top right: “Spirale” (2013), dyed zip-ties,
 13 x 10 x 4 inches. 
Photo by Michel Dubreuil. Bottom right: “Staurastrum” (2015
), dyed zip-ties and plexi tablet
, 9 x 8.5 x 8.25 inches. Photo by Michel Dubreuil

“Strongylocentrotus” (2013), 
dyed zip-ties, with plexi lightbox, 
15 x 15.75 x 8 inches. 
Photo by Michel Dubreuil

“Macro-organismes: Couronne” (2011-2016
), zip-ties, baked enamel steel, plexi lightbox, and programmable RGB LED, 
19 x 19 x 8 inches. 
Photo by Michel Dubreuil