Steve Tobin

Steve Tobin (born 1957, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American sculptor. Newsweek heralded Tobin's artistic mission "to make people look at natural objects in new ways".

He studied theoretical mathematics at Tulane University, graduating with a B.S. in 1979, and works from a studio/foundry in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Much of his work draws inspiration from nature, combining a range of materials, found objects and techniques, including reappropriating industrial products. Tobin is most known for the Trinity Root (2005), placed at St. Paul's Chapel in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Curator David Houston wrote that “Tobin’s work is anchored by two distinct themes. The first obvious and most dominant one is nature. His Steel Roots, Bronze Roots, Termite Hills, and the New Nature Series all reinterpret natural forms through deeply poetic visual languages that reach beyond the realm of appearance” (Houston 2009, p. 13). “The use of found objects, Tobin’s second major concern, is easily identifiable in his “shelter” pieces: matzoh bread, individually bronzed; Korean War–era tank windows; glass magic lantern slides. (Less known is that the ethereal Waterglass installations are also composed of found objects, thousands of pieces of glass capillary tubing resourced from a landfill)” (Houston 2019: p. 14). Donald Kuspit called Tobin’s use of found materials “assisted readymades” related to Marcel Duchamp’s readymades.

Biography Tobin grew up near Philadelphia and earned a B.S. degree from Tulane University. He was exploring the natural world through art and science since youth and simultaneously studied glass and ceramics at Tulane; this “fascination with the scientific world, particularly as it related to his feeling for nature, became the foundation upon which he ultimately built his art career” (Warmus, 2001: p. 31). The show included castings of termite hills, tree roots, and a large sculpture fashioned mainly from cow bones. In 2005, Tobin installed what is perhaps his best known work, Trinity Root, originally placed at St. Paul's Chapel in Lower Manhattan, New York City. During the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the chapel had been partly shielded from damage by a 70-year-old sycamore tree. He created a bronze sculpture of the tree's stump and roots, which were shown in front of the church on the corner of Wall Street and Broadway. Tobin was already working with roots "The function for me of roots is to show the power of the unseen," he said. "And on 9/11 we found out about the power of all of our unseen connections, the things that nurture us that are hidden below the surface." thumb The 20 feet high Trinity Root bronze sculpture by Steve Tobin commemorates the original sycamore tree that protected the St. Paul's Chapel during the 9/11 attacks in New York City. The 9/11 Memorial & Museum has a Trinity Root large-scale model on permanent display. The Trinity Root sculpture was highlighted by Chief Curator Ramirez as “striking not only for its ambitious scale and engineering virtuosity but also because of the tree’s presentation as something other than terrestrial branches, foliage, and woody surfaces. Instead, Tobin monumentalized the [...] once-concealed, skeletal roots. The choice provokes questions that seem to transcend the tree’s predicament, inviting reflection on the source of civilization’s endurance and weaknesses; of humankind’s capacity for cooperation and goodwill as well as for inflicting pain and injustices on one another.”

During the 2000s Tobin also developed the Exploded Earth series made by exploding small charges in blocks of clay and then firing the results, and showed conceptual paintings made with found materials at OK Harris.

In the 2010s, he exhibited in various museums and outdoor spaces, such as solo shows at the United States Botanic Gardens, (Washington, D.C.), and Payne Gallery of Moravian College where two of his outdoor Steelroots sculpture series are on permanent display. His Aerial Roots were featured in an outdoor installation covering seven acres at "Grounds for Sculpture", 2012 curated by State of the Arts New Jersey and presented in their video series. In 2014, a solo show "Out of this World: Works by Steve Tobin" was held in the galleries and sculpture garden of the James A. Michener Art Museum.

In 2016, Tobin was the featured artist in Shanghai, China for the Sixth Annual Jing’An International Sculpture Project (JISP) Expo. His studio shipped 48 bronze and steel sculptures for the installation, including several from his monumental Steelroots Series. Tobin's sculptures were showcased and sited at several places around the city of Shanghai, including in front of the Shanghai Natural History Museum and in Jing’An Sculpture Park, where they are still installed.

From 2020 onward, Tobin has had traveling indoor and outdoor sculpture exhibitions in public environments such as the Naples Botanical Garden (2020), Houston Botanic Gardens (2023), a retrospective “Everything Grows” at gallery Shanghai Station 1907, Shanghai (2023–24), and at the Imua Discovery Garden, in Maui, Hawaii (2024). As of 2024 his work is represented by the international Sundaram Tagore Gallery, and was included in their show at Art Basel in Miami Beach, 2024.

From April 2025 until February 2026, seven of his large New York Roots sculpture series are installed in Manhattan by the Garment District Alliance as their latest public art exhibit, located on the Broadway plazas between 39th and 40th Streets and 40th and 41st Streets. Time Out New York reviewed the massive art installation by Tobin as appearing to be ‘growing’ out of midtown and inviting reflection, urging viewers to stay grounded. Time Out New York also recommended Tobin's public art installation as number one on their best outdoor art in NYC list for spring 2025.

Social Activism Tobin’s artistic practice has activist aspects in terms of addressing natural phenomena as “powerful”, involving collaboration with local people, getting inspiration from traditional art techniques, and striving for energy neutrality. His studio runs on solar energy and he has continually integrated salvaged materials as sculptural elements, including military tank windows, antique glass magic lantern educational slides, glass tubes, and steel pipes from Bethlehem Steel.

Tobin has initiated community-oriented art activities that celebrate nature as restorative for people. For instance, he was inspired to make Trinity Root to commemorate 9/11 after learning of the sycamore tree and seeing its upturned roots, but proceeded only after speaking with survivors and families about his plans. In 2009, he made termite hill molds in collaboration with the villagers of Nsawam in Ghana. The resulting cast bronze Termite Hill sculptures, when shown in Manhattan, were intended to evoke “a fresh sense of wonder, particularly given their juxtaposition with one of the best-known skylines in the world and their multicultural connotation.” In 2024, his exhibition "Earth to Sky" on Maui supported the charitable organization Imua Family Services with proceeds directly contributing to improve resources to children with challenges. Imua Discovery Garden and local educators and families collaborated with Tobin on promoting the show with the theme of celebrating Art, Nature, and Families on Maui in a joint effort to attract tourism after the Maui fires.

Selected Museum and Public Collections List from the artist's website: 9/11 Memorial & Museum, New York, New York America Center, Helsinki, Finland American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, California American Museum of Glass, Millville, New Jersey Boca Raton Museum of Art, Mizner Park, Boca Raton, Florida Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania City of Calgary, Canada City of Osaka, Japan Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine Coca-Cola Corporation Collection, Atlanta, Georgia CSC Global, Wilmington, Delaware Florida International University, Miami, Florida Fordhook Farms, Doylestown, Pennsylvania City of Quakertown, Pennsylvania Frost Art Museum, Miami, Florida Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples, Naples, Florida Gratz College, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey James A. Michener Museum of Art, Doylestown, Pennsylvania Jing’An International Sculpture Project, Shanghai, China Karl Stirner Arts Trail, Easton, Pennsylvania King Faisal’s Palace, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Lehigh University Museum of Art, Lehigh, Pennsylvania Lowe Art Museum, Miami, Florida Moravian College, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Lausanne, Switzerland Museum of American Glass, Millville, New Jersey Museum of Art and Design (MAD), New York, New York New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art, Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pennsylvania Retretti Art Centre, Punkajarju, Finland Stephane Janssen Collection, Phoenix, Arizona, Santa Fe, New Mexico Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio White House Permanent Art Collection, Washington, D.C