Lynda Benglis

Lynda Benglis (b.1941 Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA) lives and works in New York and Santa Fe, Mexico. Benglis is best known for her poured sculptural forms made of materials such as wax, latex, metal, and foam. Her work not only delves into the physicality and the processes of material-based practices but also confronts notions of femininity within the context of a predominantly male art world.

As a young artist in the 1960’s Benglis was interested in the liquidity of paint but disliked the idea of a frame or canvas, resulting in her method of throwing/pouring the material directly onto the ground. The large ‘poured’ works, often in brightly coloured latex, expanded the prevailing discourse around minimalism and the legacy of abstract expressionism.

Her evolving sculptural practice explores materials in action, inventing new forms through unorthodox techniques and unexpected materials. Whether it's her creation of pleated metal, metallic knots, fountains, or ceramic pieces, Benglis can make what is hard appear malleable, what is delicate seem tough. Her works record the force and touch by which they were formed. Benglis has worked with ceramics since the 1990s, the resulting works highlighting the energetic gesture central to her practice, such as in Bird’s Nest #2 (2016).