Authors

Auguste Petre¹;  ¹ Art Academy of Latvia, Latvia

Discussion

As a separate course of feminism, soft sculpture has been developing in Western contemporary art since the 1960s. By using soft materials (such as rubber, latex, or cloth) that are not typical for classical sculpture, female artists breached the patriarchal character attributed to sculpture at that time, creating new perspectives in this genre with the help of material. Despite the fact that Claes Oldenburg is considered one of the founders of the genre, it is in the hands of female artists that soft sculpture becomes a direction through which to comment and describe social processes. The works of Eva Hesse and the practice of Sarah Lucas can be mentioned as vivid examples. The concept of soft sculpture has developed and improved according to the trends of contemporary art. Commenting on the environment, social criticism and interpreting the past through corporeality are just some of the current topics. For example, Estonian artist Kris Lemsalu experiments with materiality, physicality and connections of different (often contradictory) media. Although soft sculpture is not a frequently mentioned direction in Latvian contemporary art, looking at the works of individual artists, this genre can be highlighted as intuitively relevant. The large-format sculptures of Daiga Grantina, the silicone objects and body research of Brenda Jansone, as well as Elza Sile can be mentioned as expressive examples. The author of the paper examines the characteristics of soft sculpture and comments on its relevance in contemporary Baltic art, focusing on the connection of the genre with the feminist discourse.