CLAIRE FALKENSTEIN

Claire Falkenstein, a trailblazing artist in the post–World War II era, was constantly experimenting with ideas, materials, and forms. An innovator and free thinker, Falkenstein defies easy categorization within a single art historical movement. As a result, the significance of her experimentations is only now beginning to be recognized in the field. Falkenstein blended avant-garde art with the philosophy of science through her process of “exploding the volume.” She used material such as wire, wood, bronze, glass, and stone in novel ways, creating shapes extending beyond modernist forms by opening and “exploding” interior spaces, making them visible. Here, Falkenstein uses glass in her sculpture to evoke the sense of an interior space and light to complement the reflective glow of the bronze structure.