Petah Coyne uses a wide range of materials such as fish carcasses, branches and roots, mud, straw, wire, feathers, animal fur, wool, wax, pearls, silk, and flowers. Untitled #978 Gertrude and Juliana (The Whitney Women), more than three meters high and five meters wide, is a massive wall-like sculpture. The two embedded statues of the Virgin Mary in the work represent the founder of the Whitney Museum and its first director. The white of the plaster-coated surface gives the work a ritualistic aspect. The back side retains an unfinished look and, according to Coyne, "is closer to the world in which we actually live." Coyne has been deeply influenced by Japanese culture, particularly by the literary works of OE Kenzaburo, ABE Kobo, and others. Her study stay in Japan in 1992 defined the course her works would take.

(Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A.,1953, and lives in New York City, U.S.A)

Untitled #978 Gertrude and Juliana (The Whitney Women)

1999-2000
mixed media
365.76 × 523.24 × 134.62 cm
Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Anonymous Gift in honor of Marian Griffiths, 2001
©Petah Coyne