Envelope

Californian sculptor Claire Falkenstein was a pioneer in her field, one of a small number of women who shaped new directions in abstract art at mid-twentieth century. Like other American artists of her generation, she gravitated to Paris after the Second World War, and remained there for thirteen years. Envelope is one of her most ambitious works from this period: a continuous lattice-like structure that turns in on itself to form pockets embedded with melted colored glass. Falkenstein’s sculptures wrap and define space without filling it. Her structures are transparent, resisting the traditional sculptural qualities of mass and volume, and allude to organic forms such as cocoons and amoebae. In this case, her work is also freed from the pedestal, meant to be seen from the top and bottom, as well as all sides.