Book excerpt: This book represents a research endeavour in the area of contemporary sculpture, describing an unexplored tendency in the development of the relationship between sculpture and the natural elements, referred to here as Elemental Sculpture. The studies included in this book reveal the context of locations where this kind of sculpture may be found – park, urban landscape, nature – and discuss the impact of these places on the development of sculpture. This book examines the tendency towards Elemental Sculpture as part of a new level of relationship between man and nature in arts and in general. It presents in-depth research of contemporary sculpture, the roots of Elemental Sculpture and its development in the works of such well-known sculptors as Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, George Rickey, and Susumu Shingu, among others. Sculptures created by the author in the area of Elemental Sculpture during 35 years of his professional career are included and described from theoretical and practical points of view.