Spiral (Nature's Way) 1971

Meret Oppenheim created this enigmatic sculpture, titled ‘Spiral (Nature’s Way)’, out of plaster and glass, with bronze frames. Imagine the artist, Oppenheim, her hands working the wet plaster, coaxing it into this organic, spiraling form that also feels strangely architectural. The gray plaster is built up to a kind of twisted tree trunk, or even a figure. At the top are two shapes – a circle and a square, framed in bronze, holding dark glass at the centre. What was she thinking? Maybe about the way nature always finds a way, spiraling upwards, even when constrained by geometric forms. The texture of the plaster invites touch, doesn't it? It looks like the glass may have been reclaimed from broken mirrors. Oppenheim seems to be speaking to the tension between natural growth and human-made structures. It reminds me of some of Eva Hesse’s more biomorphic sculptures. Artists are always talking to each other across time, riffing on each other’s ideas. Painting, sculpture, art in general – it's about embracing uncertainty and letting multiple meanings bloom.