FLANK II: MIA WESTERLUND ROOSEN

Mia Westerlund Roosen was born 1942 and she is a New York based artist. Before becoming a full time artist she was a dancer, which can be seen influencing her work. Her work is inspired by the human body, sensuality, movement, elements that she explored in her dance career as well. She took on sculpting full time around the 1960s when minimalism was in full swing. Her style values organic shapes, and the process of making the sculpture rather than only the finished project. Westerlund is very successful and has received many awards and grants. She also has her art displayed at several prestigious facilities- aside from at Western Washington University. Westerlund has a large portfolio of sculptures mostly made out of industrial materials however this contradicts her more naturalistic style. Westerlund plans out her sculptures by creating sketches and maquettes before producing her final product. Westerland is also heavily influenced by feminism, and female sexuality however her pieces never explicitly convey these themes literally. She forces the viewer to interpret the piece on their own.

Roosen created Flank II in 1978, a time of many political and societal changes in the United States and across the world. Jimmy Carter was elected president in 1977. A previous Georgian Senator, Carter was a democrat that pushed for environmental and social change in the United States. In 1977, Carter’s main priority was on energy conservation in light of an energy crisis that had spread across the US. Prior to Carter’s inauguration, there was a recession from 1973-1975. Between 1977-78, a period of growth emerged with many more opportunities in the economy. The entire 1970s was encompassed by the second wave of the feminist movement. The feminist movement of the 70s revolved around sexual liberation, equal pay, childcare and reproductive rights. In terms of the art world, the 1970s were very minimalistic in various mediums. Roosen’s piece reflects the sensuality of the time period, as well as the contrasts between environmentalism and nature with industrialism and development.

Roosen created the piece in the Vancouver Art Gallery. She wanted to emphasize the process of how things are made. Her piece involves joining together dense forms of sculpture, and the quality of surface painting. The placement of her sculpture had to be well thought out, in that she chose an area where the object would fit well and be observed by many, but also in an intimate area where the sculpture is surrounded by trees. The trees can be seen, or act as a boundary so people viewing the sculpture can have some privacy. Although Roosen’s earlier pieces involve soaking coarse fabric with a polyester resin to place over irregular shapes, she instead pours concrete into molds. In Flank II, she coated the concrete wedge with two sheets of copper, so that natural oxidation by the air would color the sculpture for her. A similar process involved in the Statue of Liberty. Roosen tends to use more organic shapes; taking rectangles and sort of skewing them into wedges, using natural chemical processes to color her work, and her pieces often look as if they are about to fall apart, and become a part of the earth and its landscape.

Flank II, made of two triangular cement blocks with weathered copper laid over them, represents the relationships between objects and individuals, and how each individual may be simple, but together can make a functional and important piece. This piece is meant to be interpretive, while also being reflective of the time period. The weathered copper represents how individuals and objects change over time throughout different events that shape them. The location of the piece, surrounded by grass and plants, reflects the contrast of industrialism and environmentalism in the 1970s.

This sculpture may appear plain to the common passerby, but in fact is a fantastic representation of the time period in which it was created. Westerlund-Roosen uses Flank II to depict industrialization, environmentalism, sensuality, and intimacy. Although this is a minimalist sculpture, the meaning is far from simplistic. These two photographs show how time, weather and erosion, specifically the different states of day and night, has affected the sculpture and how this is a metaphor for the human experience.

Tesla Kawakami- Author, Photographer

Alaida Hentzel- Author, Photographer

Lilli Donahoe- Author, Photographer