Pentameter 1965

Ruth Vollmer, sometime between 1903 and 1982, made this sculpture called Pentameter, using the material of bronze to create a sequence of five. It’s interesting to consider that the material aspects, those textural elements, the color and the surface are of great importance to this piece. The work has a weight and permanence that evokes something elemental, and also something very modern. Bronze of course has been used for millennia, but this piece has a patina and finish that feels really contemporary. Looking closer, I see those marks, the tiny variations on the surface and I think of the artist's hand, the tools they used, and also the physical, bodily process they underwent in their work. The five units relate to each other. I look at Eva Hesse, who was doing some pretty out there sculpture in a similar moment. Both artists embrace ambiguity and multiple interpretations, but Vollmer keeps to this quite closed, simple form.