Over the course of five decades, internationally renowned artist Ursula von Rydingsvard (American, b. Germany, 1942) has created monumental, even imposing sculptures that have an undercurrent of vulnerability. Although she has experimented with a wide variety of mediums including bronze, copper, cow intestines, and polyurethane resin, since the mid-1970s she has worked primarily with cedar, a soft, malleable material that can be easily manipulated to form abstract shapes. The genesis of each sculpture begins with a chalk outline drawn directly by the artist onto the studio floor. Within this desired shape, four-by-four beams of cedar are stacked together, one plank at a time, and are subsequently cut, glued, and screwed into place; the final sculpture is often brushed with powdered graphite, imparting a distinctive texture and aged patina. The process is both additive and subtractive, and each cumulative layer is an intuitive response to the one before, as though the sculpture, according to the artist, “at least partially….determines its own destiny.”

While the artist’s labor-intensive methods are well-established, Ursula von Rydingsvard: States of Becoming surveys her work of the last two decades to focus on themes of vulnerability and open-endedness. Indeed, von Rydingsvard strives to occupy “the intermediary space that really has no answers, that really has no specific goal…a place that’s more volatile…that isn’t so certain.” In recent years she has expanded her sculptural vocabulary, collaborating with Dieu Donné to produce highly dimensional pieces cast from abaca and handmade linen paper embellished with cotton, lace, silk, and other organic materials. While the works on paper are intricate and intimate in size, they likewise embody the sculptures’ vulnerability: the paper has soft, amorphous edges, the wet pulp fraying at the periphery into delicate threads. The titles of von Rydingsvard’s works, moreover, are often allusive, preserving an ambiguity of meaning for the viewer.

Von Rydingsvard’s improvisational manner of working and long-standing practice of returning to sculptures left unfinished—or, deliberately reworking years later—has resulted in an oeuvre that is constantly evolving and in flux. Featuring approximately fifteen freestanding sculptures and wall reliefs along with a selection of works on paper, States of Becoming illustrates the tensions between intuition and methodology in her work. Focusing on von Rydingsvard’s process and her collaborations with studio assistants, the exhibition also sheds light on the artist’s unique modes of production and realization—the various “states” of her sculptures—as they come into fruition.

Ursula von Rydingsvard: States of Becoming is organized by the Bruce Museum and curated by Margarita Karasoulas, Curator of Art, with Jordan Hillman, Curatorial Associate. The exhibition will be accompanied by an audio guide and fully illustrated catalogue, including an interview with the artist and her studio assistants.

Ursula von Rydingsvard (American, B. Germany, 1942)
Untitled Brush, 2000
Cedar, Cow Intestines, 116 x 39 x 11 in.
© Ursula von Rydingsvard, Courtest Galerie Lelong & Co. and Talley Dunn Gallery