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Label Text Kiki Smith is internationally acclaimed for her prints and sculptures representing the human form and its basic functions, particularly the female body. Through sculpture, prints, and drawings she has investigated the natural world, partially in response to her own menagerie of cats and birds. The Art Center has several major prints by Smith; Bandage Girl marks the first sculpture in the Permanent Collections. It is a bronze sculpture, which is one of the three unique forms in the edition. Bandage Girl depicts a young female partially wrapped in gauzes that appear to be deteriorating, exposing her body. The artist suggests that this work functions as a memorial to poor or needy children. Source: NEWS July August September 2003
Kiki Smith is known for sculptures which present the human form in an elemental manner, with a focus on the female body. In this work, the textured patina that covers the bronze mirrors the bandages that cover the girl and seem to be incorporated into her skin. The bent posture of the girl and the work’s small size add the sculpture’s tone of vulnerability.
Published ReferencesSiri Engberg "Kiki Smith: A Gathering 1980-2005", Walker Art Center, 2005, color ill. pg. 129
DimensionsOverall: 28 × 14 × 18 in. (71.1 × 35.6 × 45.7 cm)
Accession Number 2003.3
Classificationssculpture
Editioncast 2 of 3

Images (1)

Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines

Audio (1)

Bandage Girl
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Kiki Smith
1995
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Kiki Smith
1992
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Kiki Smith
1992
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Kiki Smith
1998
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Kiki Smith
1995
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Auguste Rodin
ca. 1878-1883
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Robert Graham
1983
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Aristide Maillol
1909, cast 1952
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Robert Graham
1992
Photo Credit: Richard Sanders, Des Moines
Isabel M. Kimball
1913
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Anonymous
date unknown