Lady in Blue and Yellow Dress

Viola Frey once said that she sculpted figures because in her hometown of Lodi, California, there was nothing else to portray but the women in printed dresses walking through town on Sundays. Lady in Blue and Yellow Dress also recalls the Asian and pre-Columbian sculptures that the artist admired (Viola Frey, exhibition catalogue, Fresno Art Museum, 1991). The figure makes a gesture with her hands that in Japanese and Chinese statuary symbolizes speaking or singing. After her first two attempts collapsed, Frey began creating her monumental works out of individual pieces of fired clay that, when fitted together, stabilized the sculptures so that they would not fail.