Dina Wind: Stainless 1981-1994

The dramatic sculptural assemblages of Philadelphia-based Israeli artist Dina Wind (1938 – 2014) make use of ordinary, yet unexpected materials that coalesce into abstract compositions of color, form, and texture. Using only stainless steel in this series, rather than her typical use of slashed tires and twisted fenders, rusty tools and broken household objects, the works seem to come together intuitively, welded together from disparate forms. But the found objects that make up Wind’s work do not lose their connection to their original meaning and individual identities—they retain significant links to their histories as tools of action and motion. The implied animation of such objects gives Wind’s stainless steel sculptures a sense of pent-up energy and wry humor, recalling the long tradition of still-life painting alongside expressionistic abstraction.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website