Maren Hassinger was born in 1947 in Los Angeles, California, and currently lives and works in New York City, New York. Hassinger received her BA in sculpture from Bennington College in 1969, and her MFA in fiber from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1973. The artist’s work in sculpture unites our industrial, built environments with the natural world, creating organic forms and references to plant life using wire rope. Movement is a central aspect of the artist’s work, her sculptures tilt, lean, and sway, as in Leaning (1980). Consisting of 32 bundles of wire rope arranged on the floor each leaning in a different direction, Leaning imitates movement forward in space, resembling feet or legs in motion. In Hassinger’s Industrial Nature (2022), the artist embeds her sculptures in the midst of the Project EATS Essex Crossing Rooftop Farm, creating a direct connection between her works and the natural world. The sculptural forms, erect strands of wire rope rising from cubes of concrete, sway with the wind alongside the crops grown at the farm. Through her work, Hassinger considers formal connections between the industrial and natural forms and creates a stage where viewers might consider their relationship more deeply.