Moon Figure I

Courtesy of the artist, Banca March and Xavier Hufkens Gallery.
© Photography: Pablo Gómez-Ogando.

Moon Figure I

2010.
Tuf-cal, hemp, iron rebar.
203.2 x 185.4 x 106.7 cm / 80 x 73 x 42 in.
(HOUS25177).

Moon Figure I belongs to a series of sculptures in which the artist uses drawing and rebar as composition tools. The head is formed in clay and cast in plaster. The body parts are first drawn on plywood sheets, after which plaster is poured over the drawn forms.

These elements are then welded together with rebar. Production processes that are usually concealed become structural features, bones and veins made visible. The hollowed-out face evokes the moon, a recurring motif in Houseago’s œuvre and a symbol of both depression and regeneration.