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Lot Essay
THIS ELEGANT FIGURE OF A WOMAN IS A POWERFUL EXAMPLE OF RICHIER'S MASTERFUL MANIPULATION OF MATERIAL. STANDING TALL ON TWO ELONGATED AND EMACIATED LEGS, RICHIER HAS HIGHLIGHTED THE NATURAL FORCES AT WORK WITHIN THE HUMAN BODY AS WELL AS WITHIN THE EARTHINESS OF THE CLAY IN WHICH SHE ORIGINALLY MODELLED THE WORK. THE BACK OF THE FIGURE IS CARVED AND HOLLOWED OUT BETWEEN THE BUTTOCKS AND BENEATH THE SHOULDER BLADE CONVEYING A SENSE THAT THE FIGURE IS CLOSE TO STARVATION. IN OTHER PLACES, SUCH AS HER RIGHT HIP, RICHIER HAS DELIBERATELY EXTENDED THE MOULDING INTO AN ELONGATED FORM THAT EXAGGERATES THE PLAY BETWEEN THE EMPTY AND SOLID SPACE OF THE SCULPTURE AND, LIKE A PIECE OF PEELING BARK, PARALLELS THE ORGANIC UPWARD GROWTH OF A TREE.
THE LONG NECK AND SMOOTH FEATURELESS FACE OF THE FIGURE HAS BEEN NARROWED TO A POINT TO FORM THE APEX OF THE SCULPTURE AND TO EMPHASISE THE SENSE OF GROWTH. BENEATH A HOLLOWED-OUT RIB-CAGE AND ARMPIT THAT STRESS A DEPLETED LEFT BREAST, A BLOATED STOMACH HAS BEEN SMOOTHLY SCRAPED DOWN INTO THE HOLLOW OF THE FIGURE'S SPINDLY LEGS. IN HER TINY HANDS AT THE END OF HER FLESHLESS ARMS, THIS WOMAN TIGHTLY CLASPS TWO OBJECTS THAT SUGGEST SHE IS WINNOWING THE CHAFF FROM THE HEAD OF CORN. THIS, ALONG WITH THE TITLE, MAKES HER AN EMBODIMENT IN HUMAN FORM OF THE ENDURING STRENGTH OF ORGANIC LIFE.
THE LONG NECK AND SMOOTH FEATURELESS FACE OF THE FIGURE HAS BEEN NARROWED TO A POINT TO FORM THE APEX OF THE SCULPTURE AND TO EMPHASISE THE SENSE OF GROWTH. BENEATH A HOLLOWED-OUT RIB-CAGE AND ARMPIT THAT STRESS A DEPLETED LEFT BREAST, A BLOATED STOMACH HAS BEEN SMOOTHLY SCRAPED DOWN INTO THE HOLLOW OF THE FIGURE'S SPINDLY LEGS. IN HER TINY HANDS AT THE END OF HER FLESHLESS ARMS, THIS WOMAN TIGHTLY CLASPS TWO OBJECTS THAT SUGGEST SHE IS WINNOWING THE CHAFF FROM THE HEAD OF CORN. THIS, ALONG WITH THE TITLE, MAKES HER AN EMBODIMENT IN HUMAN FORM OF THE ENDURING STRENGTH OF ORGANIC LIFE.