Man often bends nature to his will to make something great, but Spencer Byles wanted to actually work together with nature. That’s why he spent a year making sculptures in unmanaged forests in France. Using naturally sourced materials and found man-made objects, he built over twenty sculptures and installations in the regions of La Colle Sur Loup (where he lived with his family and had a workshop), Villeneuve Loubet and Mougins.

The sculptures are temporary and hard to spot, which is intentional. It makes the sculptures blend with nature better. Byles considers the high point of his project to be hen nature starts to reclaim his sculptures. He cares about nature so much so that he has prepared to remove the wires that were used to keep several of his statues in place.

Spencer‘s sculptures are awe inspiring, like remnants of infrastructure left by a fantastic forest-dwelling people. Elven gates, fairy prisons, dryad pods – the creations look downright magical, like something ripped straight out of A Midsummer Night‘s Dream. Or, if you‘re less inclined to benign fantasies, The Blair Witch Project.

More info: frenchforestsculptures.blogspot.fr | Facebook (h/t: mymodernmet)