Around The Bend #2

Karen Madden’s "Around The Bend #2" is an elegant and gestural sculpture that finds influence in the work of modernist artists over many decades. The work is most reminiscent of Henry Moore's nature-evoking curving bronze sculptures and the soft, anthropomorphic marble sculptures of Jean Arp. Despite Around The Bend #2’s static construction, it echoes the delicate metal flourishes and forms of once-in-a-lifetime artist Alexander Calder’s "Mobiles". Unlike Calder’s sculptures, the present work does not move. It does, however, create a powerful sense of movement. The twisting red element appears like brushstrokes in motion, a ribbon whirling through the air or curled around the top of a present.

More than anything else, Madden’s restraint provides the work its grace and beauty. The simplicity of red and black, circle and twirl, and separate but interwoven lend the work an unobtrusive allure that compliments almost any setting.