LINDA STEIN – 1989
GEORGE W. STAEMPFLI
Gallerist, Staempfli Gallery
There are few ritual objects in the world which evoke as wide a range of associations in human beings as Scepters. In our fantasies they are intimately connected with ancient kingdoms, with feudal and magic personal power-fields, and they represent important concepts of traditional regal functions throughout different ages and tribal societies.
Linda Stein is deeply aware of these underlying currents in her sculptural creations. The shapes and materials she fuses into primitive three-dimensional statements are alive with what C.G. Jung called “inherited group subconscious.” Visually, they are stark, impressive works, pared down to essential forms related to trees, roots or bones, and ennobled by the hands of distant rulers or shamans.