Up to the Light, from the Olive Press Portfolio 1991 - 1992

Judith Shea’s early career as a fashion designer informed many of her later sculptural works, in which she explored the effect of clothing on the human presence. Many of her works display empty clothing, typically sheath dresses and simple coats, evoking an absent figure. Her bronze and wooden statues also consider these ideas, portraying subjects Shea believes have been unjustly forgotten by history. Up to the Light combines Shea’s dual passions of sculpture and fashion, juxtaposing a vacant, inverted dress and a statuesque female form. The figure fades in comparison to the vivid dress beside her, lost when disconnected from the material object that expresses her identity.