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This 12-Foot Abstract Sculpture Near the National Mall Embodies the Beauty of Outdoor Art
Key takeaways
- Shechet created the aluminum piece, called Maiden May, in 2023, and it was featured in a 2024 show at the Storm King Art Center in New York.
- The artist is primarily known for her ceramic works, one of which, the five-foot Ripple and Ruffle, is in the Hirshhorn collection.
- Shechet first gained attention in the 1990s with hand-molded plaster sculptures of seated Buddha figures before moving on to making ceramics in wild, unexpected shapes.
Shechet created the aluminum piece, called Maiden May, in 2023, and it was featured in a 2024 show at the Storm King Art Center in New York. Its current place on the grass just outside the Hirshhorn building pleases its creator. “I love it here,” Shechet said during a visit in March. “It actually has more space.”
The artist is primarily known for her ceramic works, one of which, the five-foot Ripple and Ruffle, is in the Hirshhorn collection. “She’s especially recognized for having helped catalyze a contemporary resurgence in ceramics,” said Hirshhorn curator Anne Reeve. “Her approach as a sculptor is predicated on finding and harnessing a kind of tension in the studio where she is navigating between structure and intuition, material, pressure, balance, color.”
Shechet first gained attention in the 1990s with hand-molded plaster sculptures of seated Buddha figures before moving on to making ceramics in wild, unexpected shapes.