Rouse

Copied Alison Saar, Rouse, 2012, wood, bronze, paper, antler sheds, and stamped ceiling tin, dimensions variable, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the American Women’s History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative, 2022.32A-C, © 2012, Alison Saar. Courtesy of L.A. Louver

Artwork Details

Title
Rouse
Artist
Date
2012
Location
Dimensions
dimensions variable
Copyright
© 2012, Alison Saar. Courtesy of L.A. Louver
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the American Women’s History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative
Mediums
Mediums Description
wood, bronze, paper, antler sheds, and stamped ceiling tin
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure female — full length
Object Number
2022.32A-C
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2022.32A-C

Artwork Description

The word "rouse" means to awaken and animate, and this sculpture evokes the self-awakening and personal transformation we often experience when encountering a turning point in life. Alison Saar made Rouse when her daughter left for college. The artist began thinking about "being menopausal . . . moving into new territory in my work . . . ready to let this other part of me mature and come out and be realized."

The massive antlers cradle a delicate, translucent adult figure in a fetal position, like a creature preparing to emerge from its cocoon. Scattered on the ground below are antlers that suggest a root network and, as the artist notes, mark "the passage of time to bring a child to adulthood."

Exhibitions

Electronic Superhighway
Galleries for Modern and Contemporary Art
September 22, 2023–January 31, 2033
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum's galleries for modern and contemporary art display selections from the permanent collection from the 1940s to the present.