Object number1995.24.1
Five Fans, Lampshades and Lotus
Date1982
Artist
Nancy Graves
(American, 1940-1995)
MediumBronze with polychrome patina
DimensionsSight: 81 x 34 x 35 in. (205.74 x 86.36 x 88.9 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Nancy Graves
On View
Not on viewPeriod20th c
Classification(s)
DescriptionNancy Graves, a member of the class of 1961, is Vassar’s most well-known artist alumna. She pursued graduate study at Yale University and became an accomplished sculptor, painter, printmaker, and video artist. Her sculpture stems primarily from nature and her own interest in the natural sciences, and frequently bear exotic titles such as Catepelouse, Fayum, or Archaeoloci. Often the sculptures from the 1980s are assemblages of various cast objects includ- ing seed pods, palm fronds, and other vegetal forms. The Vassar work carries a more prosaic and descriptive title, isolating the primary elements— the lampshade base, the large lotus leaf from which emerges the crown of five Japanese fans, connected by slices of what appears to be a gourd or root. The manner in which the elements are connected suggests a slow torsion that encourages the viewer to address it from multiple points of view. This work is quite typical of the delicately balanced layers of unrelated objects that, together, appear to have metamorphosed into a new and bizarre species of plant.
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