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Wall Torso IX
1992

Earthenware and Stoneware
18 x 12.25 x 4 in.
Gift of Richard W. Gold from the Arthur J. Williams Collection
2024.12.18

Stephen De Staebler has spent many years exploring fragmented figures like Wall Torso IX. These works are assembled from overlapping pieces, capturing human forms that hover between existence and disintegration. For De Staebler, the creative process and the materialization of form are paramount. As he explains, the incompleteness of his figures leaves room for imagination. He finds sculpture more compelling white it is “puzzling rather than explanatory.” His works reflect the instability of the human condition, informed by his philosophical reflections and religious studies.

Born in Webster Groves, Missouri, in 1933, De Staebler studied at Princeton University and Black Mountain College in North Carolina. A pivotal moment in his career was his encounter with Peter Voulkos at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1959. De Staebler earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from UC Berkeley in 1961 and taught at the San Francisco Art Institute (1961–1967) and San Francisco State University (1967–1992). De Staebler died in 2011.

Sara Eco Conti

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abstraction, cracks*, gray, green, pink, torso

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Holding Space

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