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February 1989. Steel. Dimensions: 39 × 5 × 7 in (99 × 13 × 18 cm).
Strange Fruit II, the second work in the series, continues the departure from my more familiar combinations of substantial stone and steel. Here stone is eliminated entirely, allowing steel to rise in a slender, almost calligraphic gesture. The elongated upper form opens like a fruit or seed pod, introducing the organic and bodily associations becoming increasingly important in my work.
The title adds a darker, deliberately oblique meaning, recalling Billie Holiday’s haunting performance of “Strange Fruit,” confronting the lynching of African Americans in the American South. Rather than illustrating the song, the reference creates a tension between growth and violence, beauty and brutality. The sculpture was later cast in bronze and combined with a vertically positioned stone to create Strange Fruit III.
February 1989. Steel. Dimensions: 39 × 5 × 7 in (99 × 13 × 18 cm).
Strange Fruit II, the second work in the series, continues the departure from my more familiar combinations of substantial stone and steel. Here stone is eliminated entirely, allowing steel to rise in a slender, almost calligraphic gesture. The elongated upper form opens like a fruit or seed pod, introducing the organic and bodily associations becoming increasingly important in my work.
The title adds a darker, deliberately oblique meaning, recalling Billie Holiday’s haunting performance of “Strange Fruit,” confronting the lynching of African Americans in the American South. Rather than illustrating the song, the reference creates a tension between growth and violence, beauty and brutality. The sculpture was later cast in bronze and combined with a vertically positioned stone to create Strange Fruit III.