Six meters high and over 5,000 kilograms, Ona continues the large-scale monumental sculptures for which von Rydingsvard has become renowned. Texturally intricate and emotionally cogent, Ona intimates a complex, close relationship with its urban environment akin to many of her past works. Von Rydingsvard frequently titles her work in Polish, as the language appeals to a heritage with which she strongly identifies.The word "ona" contains nuances lacking in its English equivalent, and refers to a complex sense of female identity. In line with many of her past works, Ona evokes the artist’s childhood in post-war Polish refugee camps in Germany and her connection to an ancestry of Polish peasant farmers.
Ursula von Rydingsvard, 'She / Ona', photo: Jeff Mermelstein
The artist created the work by collecting pieces of cedar from forests in Canada, painstakingly cutting and assembling them into constituent parts. She then laminated each piece before rubbing powdered graphite into the work to create a textured, faceted surface with nuanced patina. To capture fine details, Von Rydingsvard used several types of casting before welding over 100 parts into the final sculpture.
As a piece of public art, Ona displays a democratic gesture. As one of her impressive works situated outside a gallery space, the sculpture is accessible to all in the local community. Ona is not merely a visual luxury: Its opulent surface invites touch. As von Rydingsvard told the New York Times, “I would actually love people to touch it. The acid from fingers polishes it, like the Buddhas getting their bellies rubbed”.
Ursula von Rydingsvard, 'She / Ona', photo: Jeff Mermelstein
Born to a Polish mother and a Ukrainian father in Nazi Germany in 1942, von Rydingsvard grew up in a series of postwar refugee camps for displaced Polish people before the family settled in the U.S. in 1950. She received an MFA from Columbia University in 1975 and has established a strong presence in the international art community throughout the past several decades working from her Brooklyn studio. Her included in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among many others. She has received accolades for her works that include the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship and two individual grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Author: Julie Henneberg, 09/09/2013