Flank II at WWU

Mia Westerlund Roosen’s career began at the height of Minimalism. Known for her outdoor sculptures, Westerlund Roosen incorporates ideas of sensuality and biomorphism in order to bring mundane objects to life. Her sculptures are handmade, and this quality is reflected in the imperfect surfaces, shapes, and ideas she imparts upon her sculptures. She is also interested in associating the human body, its flow, and movement with geometric shapes.

Growing up in New York during the late 1960’s, there was a constant hustle and bustle in the environment. The arts started to garner a larger appreciation, whether it was movies, theatre, poetry, photography, a cultural shift into unknown territories was beginning to take place. The economy was growing, industrialization created more products, and the people along with their newfound disposable income wanted to enjoy art in the context of a new era.

A new movement of expressionism was growing in the country. The hippie movement was gaining traction, music was becoming more experimental, in New York, Jazz was undergoing a massive shift from ragtime to improvisational. It was a time when progressivism began to take its baby steps and nudge itself into the forefront of thought. Westerlund Roosen formed a delicate balance between art and the environment. She played the environment to her advantage by creating pieces where onlookers could look within themselves for an experience of self reflection.

In the late 1960’s Minimalism was the dominant art form. Westerlund Roosen closely follows the properties of Minimalism. She is known for her semi-abstract style using concrete and other extremely basic terrestrial materials to hand cast large outdoor sculptures. Westerlund Roosen does not have one specific style, her work is dynamic and versatile. Her most popular sculpture is called “French Kiss.” located on Park Avenue in New York, onlookers can ponder over the sensuality and movement throughout the piece, a work of curvature and eroticism, a stark contrast to the hard edges and symmetrical patterns of the surrounding urban environment.

Westerlund Roosen’s creative vision was birthed in her history as a dancer. Her background in dance shows up in her work through movement and sensuality. She often uses the human body/anatomy as groundworks for her outdoor sculptures(3). Movement as only the human body can perform is a theme found throughout her work. In her pieces you see fleeting visions of elbows, thighs raised in the still moment of a silent dance, lips and tongues intersecting, dancing off of each other. These sculptures are grounded in the human form and the movement that comes of it

In 1978, Westerlund Roosen sculpted Flank II. Designed from copper and enclosed in concrete stucco, the pair of triangles placed atop each other fulfill a need for connectivity between two forms as if they were living, breathing things. Though the meaning of this piece is up to interpretation, it could be implied that Westerlund Roosen is simply inviting viewers to engage in “seeing and feeling with the body, not so much about analysis” (1). This is likely related to fulfilling an experience of self-reflection by interacting with the piece through sight and touch.

At the time of Flank II’s inception, the second wave feminist movement in America was gaining clout in mainstream society. This movement sought equality for women and consequently spawned a burgeoning new era of feminist art. One of the perennial themes associated with art from this era is the notion that “Not only was the body a site, it was an important source of information. Much of women’s social status was seen as based in the body, so issues like violence, birthing, sexuality and beauty were frequent subjects” (2). Westerlund Roosen explores these ideas in Flank II to evoke sensuality along with parts and movement of the body within this piece. While Westerlund-Roosen never made a public statement as to the original intent of Flank II (4), several themes can be extrapolated from one visit to the sculpture. Tying into themes of bodily movement and form, the title already implies a part of the body, the flank. the sculpture is two rigid, straight-edged right triangle prisms, lying over each other much like two lovers who have settled for each other’s company, even in the wake of a dying love. There is a dichotomy of two individuals, alike in almost every aspect, yet still unique. One cannot help but think of duality between humans. Relationships between one individual and another.

At first sight, it is difficult to comprehend the meaning behind Mia Westerlund Roosen’s Flank II given its overall simplicity and use of mundane material. Because of her extensive background in dance, Westerlund Roosen invites us to appreciate notions of sensuality and movement within her work. These same themes could also be extrapolated from Flank II if one were to interact with the piece long enough. Through sight and touch, viewers can fulfill an experience of self-reflection as well as appreciation for Westerlund Roosen’s craftsmanship. Further observations could be made about the triangular prisms bound together as if they were living beings caught in the hustle and bustle of North Campus. The concrete prisms cast in copper add a sense of the elemental and the organic to the piece, as the copper has tarnished and oxidized with time, leaving seafoam hues interspersed with an earthy copper brown. The duality of the two prisms laid straight across each other, unified through color and design, conveys intimacy, connectivity, and companionship.

Bibliography

McDaniel, Craig, Robertson, Jean. “The Body”. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art After 1980. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, 2013. 87. Print

“Mia Westerlund Roosen.” Mia Westerlund Roosen – Artists – Betty Cuningham Gallery. Betty Cuningham Gallery, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.

“Mia Westerlund Roosen.” Wall Street International, Wall Street Journal, 23 Feb. 2017, wsimag.com/art/23815-mia-westerlund-roosen.

“Western Washington University.” WESTERN GALLERY, Western Gallery, westerngallery.wwu.edu/sculpture/flank-ii.

Created by: Dani Iwami, Anthony Mayo, Nate Bayer