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Leonda Finke was given a one-person show at Grounds For Sculpture in the spring of 2001. Two cast bronzes, Standing Figure and Seated Figure from her Women in the Sun Series, were featured in the exhibition and are now fittingly installed outdoors on the sculpture pad in the park. These expressive figures are not idealized; they are women who show age and wear. She has managed to convey a quiet stillness along with a powerfully emotive quality in the two sculptures. Posed in self-reflection, unaware of others, they turn and lift their faces toward the sun seeking energy and "warmth after the winter . . . giving thanks in greeting yet another season of the sun in our life cycle." This artist chooses women as her subject matter because she can knowingly portray their struggles, their self-discovery, their inner psyche. Concerned as much with shape in space as with women's inner thoughts, Finke fits the figures with thin clinging garments serving to accent or hide form.
Originally from New York City, Finke resides on Long Island. Exhibitions of her work have been held in states along the East Coast and in England, Finland, Germany, and Italy. She is represented in collections at The Butler Institute of American Art, Ohio; Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina; the National Academy of Design, New York; New Jersey's Newark Museum; the National Portrait Gallery and National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C.; and other major museums, as well as private collections in this country, Japan and Europe. Besides her figurative works, Finke is also recognized internationally for her design and casting of medals, which she has been making since 1986. |
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Standing Figure of Woman in the Sun, 1988
cast bronze, 3/6
70" x 33" x 18"
Courtesy of The Sculpture Foundation, Inc.
Photo: Malgorzata Mosiek |
