Elizabeth Torrance
Artist Website Link

Untitled in Gold

stoneware, 24k gold leaf

23" x 12" x 5"
2015

$1,480

The physical body exists as biology and culture imperfectly made manifest in flesh. It is a cultural site, not static but constantly being remade. It is a site of alteration, intervention, and adjustment in pursuit of an ideal. I sculpt bodies that are rarely featured in our culture, contrasting human imperfection with the idealized, stylized, and sexualized beauty that we normally encounter. My work draws formal elements from religious paintings of the Renaissance. The colors, gestures and ornamentation reference depictions of the Virgin Mary of the time. By drawing from Mary’s potent imagery I connect the ideals of the past with our contemporary understanding of beauty and form.