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Release

2022
Not on view
This sculpture evokes a state of being rather than of doing. "If I stay in a state of faith," the artist has said of this piece, "I can let go of a lot of fear." Indeed, the figure’s hollow core creates an internal space largely cut off from the outside world. Only its eyes provide a portal between the two; instead of arms, two handles appear at the shoulders evoking a water vessel. The figure’s affectless expression similarly offers little by way of interpretation. At the same time, two black lines create a cross on the figure’s midsection that the artist defines as a star indicating the cardinal directions. The mark represents a source of orientation and guidance.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Release
  • Artist: Rose B. Simpson (American, Enrolled member of the Santa Clara Pueblo (Kha’po Owingeh) born Santa Fe, New Mexico 1983)
  • Date: 2022
  • Medium: Clay, steel, twine and grout
  • Dimensions: 84 × 20 × 18 in. (213.4 × 50.8 × 45.7 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Gift, 2023
  • Object Number: 2023.359
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Rose B. Simpson. Courtesy of the artist, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, and Jessica Silverman, San Francisco.
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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