Untitled 1968

This sculpture, by Fusun Onur, looks like it was formed out of plaster, or maybe even cement. I can imagine the artist, with her hands covered in dust, carving into its surface, coaxing out the interior form, figuring out the right amount of pressure to apply. It’s a really interesting shape, almost like a stylized torso split open with an economy of gesture – a kind of Y shape. It’s a very tactile piece, and I find myself wondering how it would feel to run my hands along those sharp edges and smooth surfaces. It’s like the artist is taking something solid and fixed and opening it up to new possibilities, new ways of being. Onur has a way of taking the everyday materials and turning them into something profound, something that speaks to the complexities of our inner lives. It reminds me of some of the early modernist sculptors. They were all trying to break free from the traditional forms and find new ways to express themselves.